


Puyo Puyo: Dream Land Invasion

by TheBlackKid



Series: Special of Puyo Puyo [3]
Category: Kirby (Video Games), Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Poyo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-06-09 13:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 53
Words: 131,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15268350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackKid/pseuds/TheBlackKid
Summary: After an Air Ride race goes horribly wrong, Kirby crash lands in the middle of Primp Town, where he is found by Amitie. Story mostly in Amitie's POV.





	1. Magical Girl Meets Star Warrior

**Prologue**

 

**World of Peace - Dream Land**

“Welcome everybody, to today’s Air Ride Grand Prix! I’m your host and commentator, Magolor, and I promise, you all are in for a treat today! Isn’t that right, Susie?”

“Indeed it is, Magolor. Although it’s been a while since the last Grand Prix, I’m sure everybody here is ready for some high-octane fun.”

"You would think so since some came from the far reaches of Popstar and even beyond that."

“Yeah, that is true.”

Down near the racetrack, Kirby was working on some finishing touches to his modified Warpstar. With him were Adeleine, Ribbon, and Bandanna-Dee. The first two having worried looks on their faces.

“Kirby, do you really think you should be participating in this Grand Prix? I mean, when was the last time you rode an air ride?” Adeleine asked.

Kirby stopped working for a second and tried to think of an answer. It really has been a while since he rode an air ride, and that didn’t include the times he rode his regular Warpstar like one.

“Poyo.” He said.

“15 years?! And you still think you can ride one?!”

“Poyo poyo!”

“I don’t know how you guys can ride these things.” Ribbon said. “They look super scary and dangerous.”

“Aren’t you worried at all about this, D?” Adeleine asked Bandanna-Dee.

Bandanna-Dee shook his head (or body, whichever you want to believe) no, then wrote down his reasoning on a dry-erase board.

“ _Well, if he could save Popstar and other worlds 13 times in a row, then he shouldn’t have a problem riding an air ride, right?_ ”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“Attention all racers! The Air Ride Grand Prix is about to begin! Please load up your air rides at the starting line.” Magolor came back on the intercom giving out the final warning.

“Poyo poyo!”

“ _sigh_. Just be careful, okay Kirby?” Adeleine said.

“Yes, please do. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you.” Ribbon added.

Bandanna-Dee wrote the words “Good luck!” on his dry-erase board.

“Poyo!” Kirby waved his friends goodbye as he flew his air ride to the starting line.

 

“Our race today takes place at the oversized peaceful garden known as Beanstalk Park. A place filled with gigantic grassy plants, airships, and waterfalls.” Magolor said over the intercom.

“Bronto Burts and Flappies are littered all over the place. Racers can avoid them by taking the vine rails as shortcuts, or just simply defeat them.” Susie added.

Kirby flew his Warpstar-looking air ride to the starting line, where Meta Knight was polishing his Galaxia Sword before the race started.

“ _Hiiii!_ ” Kirby said.

“Kirby…it’s been a while since we’ve done a battle like this, has it not?” Meta Knight asked.

“Poyo.”

“Well…just so you know, I don’t intend to lose.”

“Poyo poyo!”

Just then, they heard a heavy type of machine seemingly getting louder and louder. They look over to see King Dedede heading towards them riding said heavy machine, which also looked very familiar to everyone else.

"Is that a Wheelie? That thing can't even fly!" Adeleine began protesting but then felt a light tap on her side. She looked over to see Bandanna-Dee writing something on his dry-erase board.

“ _They had to make an exception for Dedede. Since his weight could possibly break an air ride._ ”

“Oh, I see.” Adeleine started to snicker a bit, which gained her an insulted grunt from Dedede.

Suddenly, a portal opened up in front of the three racers, and out from it came something no one expected to see…well, not in Dream Land, I mean.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Seriously, Magolor?! A Sphere Doomer?!” Ribbon complained.

"What? We needed a fourth racer." Magolor said.

“So you picked a creature that basically attacks everything in sight?” Susie asked.

“It’s trained…sort of.”

“What do you mean _sort of_?” Adeleine asked.

“Well…it still attacks everything, but not as much as normal Sphere Doomers. Right, Doomie?”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ _Doomie?_ You seriously named that thing?” Asked Taranza, who was sitting near the starting line holding a checkered flag.

“Enough already! The race is starting now!”

The four racers lined up at the starting line where Taranza was standing as the countdown began to start.

“3…

2…

1…

 **GO!!!** ”

“And there we go, race fans! The Air Ride Grand Prix has begun with Meta Knight in 1st, Dedede in 2nd, Kirby in 3rd, and Sphere Doomer in 4th.” Magolor commentated.

As they turn onto the first set of corners, they’re greeted by the first wave of enemies. While Meta Knight and Dedede defeated them with swings from their respected weapons, Kirby managed to inhale a Flappy and gained the Wing ability. The Sphere Doomer spawned some energy spheres and used them to destroy the rest of the enemies.

“Kirby gains the Wing ability and glides his way to the first vine rail shortcut. He takes the shortcut with the Sphere Doomer close behind, and both overtake the other two racers.” Susie commentated.

“Hmm. Nice move, Star Warrior.” Meta Knight said to himself. “But such a move won’t be enough to beat me!”

As the racers approached the big windmill in the middle of the track, Meta Knight looked at it and gained an idea.

“Meta Knight raises his Galaxia Sword in the air and… **WOW!** He uses his trusty sword to grab hold of the windmill, taking him to another hidden shortcut!” Magolor described the event that just happened. Meta Knight used the shortcut and was able to pass up the Sphere Doomer and was neck in neck with Kirby.

“Let’s see you beat that, Star Warrior!” He said to Kirby.

“Poyo!”

After a few more twist and turns, the racers were now approaching the multiple vine rails that will take them to the finish line. Dedede, who was in 4th

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“H-Hey, Adeleine. Wh-What did Dedede just do?” Ribbon asked sounding terrified.

“…I…I’m not too sure myself, Ribbon.” Adeleine answered, sounding not as terrified as Ribbon, but she was still somewhat disturbed by what she just saw.

Bandanna-Dee began writing something on his dry-erase board and showed it to the girls.

“ _That’s Dedede’s alter-ego, Masked Dedede. He used this form to fight Kirby once, but lost. I didn’t think he still had that mask, since he hasn’t used it since that fight._ ”

“Woah! So that one mask holds that much power?” Adeleine asked.

“W-Why does Popstar have so many scary things?!” Asked Ribbon, who was still cowering in fear behind Adeleine.

“That’s something I don’t think anyone can answer, Ribbon.”

Suddenly, a hatch began to open up on Dedede’s deluxe hammer, and with one swing of his hammer, he sent out miniature rockets towards the other racers. One of them ended up hitting the Sphere Doomer as it spun out off the track.

“ **WOW!** Would you look at that, race fans?! Dedede used some kind of powered-up mask and flung mini-rockets at the other racers, causing poor Doomie there to fall off the track!” Magolor commentated.

“It that even legal?” Susie asked.

“Who cares? It’s good for ratings.”

“ _Right…_ ”

As Dedede grew closer to the other two racers, it became harder for the two to avoid the rockets. Up ahead were the final set of enemies, one of them being a Sword Knight. Meta Knight saw this and turned to face Kirby.

“Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

Kirby ejected his Wing ability and inhaled the Sword Knight, gaining the Sword ability.

“Kirby’s got the Sword ability! Just what is he up to?” Susie commented.

The two then faced Dedede as he flung more mini-rockets at them. They both deflected them all with their swords and Dedede inched closer to Kirby and Meta Knight, making it a neck-on-neck-on-neck situation as they take the last turn to the finish line.

“Kirby, Dedede, and Meta Knight are all just mere inches to the finish line, folks! Who will win the Air Ride Grand Prix and become champion?! **THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!!!** ” Magolor shouted over the intercom.

“Come on, Kirby!”

“You can do it, Kirby!”

Adeleine and Ribbon were cheering Kirby on, while Bandanna-Dee held up his dry-erase board with the words “Go Kirby!” written on it.

Meta Knight’s crew, the Meta-Knights, were there as well, cheering on their leader.

“Meta Knight! Meta Knight! Meta Knight! Meta Knight!” They chanted.

And of course, Dedede had his Waddle-Dee army cheering him on. They were all holding pictures of Dedede’s signature peace sign.

But as they were approaching Taranza at the finish line, a portal appeared and the Sphere Doomer came out of it, facing the three oncoming racers.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“What’s this thing doing?!” Taranza asked.

 “ **WAH! THE SPHERE DOOMER SHOT SOME KIND OF ENERGY SPHERE!!! EVERYBODY, GET OUT THE WAY QUICK!!!** ” Susie panicked over the speaker.

Meta Knight and a somewhat-aware Dedede heard the warning and got out the way. But for some reason, Kirby kept charging towards it.

“ **KIRBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT THE WAY!** ” Adeleine yelled.

But it didn’t work. Kirby got closer the energy sphere until he was near inches from it. Once he was that close, he jumped off his air ride and, with his sword in hand, prepared to strike the sphere.

“ **NO! KIRBY! DON’T!** ” Meta Knight shouted.

But it was too late. Kirby sliced the sphere in half, causing a black hole to form in its place and it sucked up Kirby before disappearing into nothing.

“ **WH-WHAT?! WH-WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE DID KIRBY GO?!** ” Ribbon began panicking, as with most of the others.

 Meta Knight flew up to where the black hole had evaporated and had a moment of silence before saying anything.

“Meta Knight, do you know what happened?” Adeleine asked him. Meta Knight nodded his head and began explaining everything.

"When Kirby sliced the energy sphere the Sphere Doomer shot at us, it caused a break in space-time, forming a black hole that sent Kirby to another world. What that world is, I have no idea." He said.

“A-Adeleine, is Kirby ever coming back?” Ribbon asked. Adeleine looked at her with an unsure look on her face.

“For once, Ribbon. I honestly don’t know.” She said, then looked up at the sky with the same look as before.

_Geez, Kirby. What did you get yourself into this time?_

 

**Chapter 1 – Magical Girl Meets Star Warrior**

 

**World of Magic - Primp Town**

 

Hello-! The name’s Amitie! I’m a student of the Primp Magic School in the peaceful Primp Town! My dream is to become a wonderful magician. I’m not that great at studying, and maybe a bit clumsy, but I’m always the cheerful one. Nice to meet you!

I was having fun in the park, playing a round of tag with my friends, Arle, Ringo, and Carbuncle. Arle was it, and she and Carbuncle would always tag team us and end up winning.

Now that I think about it, tag teaming us in a game of tag is actually kinda funny.

“Yeah! We won, Carby!” Arle cheered.

“Gu gu!” Carbuncle said.

In case you didn’t know, “Gu gu” is the only thing Carbuncle can say. For some reason, Arle’s the only person who can understand him. Whenever me and Ringo would ask her how is that possible, she would claim that it’s a special bonding thing. I never understood what that meant.

“Geez, Arle! That strategy of yours isn’t fair, you know!” I said.

“She’s right.” Ringo agreed.

“What do you mean? It’s simply divide and conquer. Right, Carby?”

“Gu gu gu!”

I watched as Arle and Carbuncle gave each other a hi-five. I've always enjoyed watching those two play with each other. It's cute how they get along with each other and have so much in common. Maybe I've been enjoying it a bit too much though, because as of late…I've been getting a little jealous of the two. I kinda wish I had that kind of friendship with someone. Don't get me wrong, I love the friends I've got here, but when your friends consist of Raffina being scary when she gets angry (which is a lot), Klug being a know-it-all when you ask him a question (which is a lot), Sig spacing out when he's not talking about bugs (which is a lot), and Lidelle getting shy whenever you try to talk to her (which is a lot), I don't really feel the same kind of friendship with them as Arle feels with Carbuncle. Or even with Ringo and Maguro. I've been feeling the same way with them two as well.

“Gee, Arle. You sure are lucky.” I said.

“Huh? What do you mean by that, Amitie?” Arle asked me.

_Oops! I said that out loud! Guess it’s time to be honest with them._

“Well, you see…I’m kinda jealous of you.”

“Of me? What’s there to be jealous about?”

“Carbuncle.”

“Carby? What about him?”

“It’s just that you two are so close to each other. I don’t really have that type of bond with any of my friends.”

“Aw, come on, Amitie. I think you’re overreacting a bit.” Ringo said.

“W-Well…actually, Ringo, I’m kinda jealous of you too.”

“What? Me? Of what?”

“Your friendship with Maguro. I mean, you two are childhood friends. I’ve never had one, and it took a while for me to be friends with my classmates, even if half of them don’t really like me that much.”

“Amitie, come on. Don’t you think you’re being a little bit too harsh on yourself?” Arle asked.

“Arle’s right.” Ringo added. “I mean, you’re close to your hat.”

“Yeah, but my hat doesn’t really count as a friend. It doesn’t really do much besides letting me control this body.”

The more I thought of my desire to have a close friend, the sadder I became. And eventually, I became so sad that if I looked into a mirror right now, I probably wouldn't recognize myself.

“You know what, guys? I’m just gonna go home now. See ya.” I said as I got up off the patch of grass and began walking home.

“Bye, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Gu gu gu.” Carbuncle said.

“Hope you feel better.” Ringo added.

I waved them goodbye as I started losing sight of them.

 

As I continued my walk home, my sadness became more and more noticeable. I walked past a few people that knew me for being cheerful all the time, and when they asked why I was sad, I told them I didn’t want to talk about it. I made it home and went inside to see that I was the only one there. I noticed there was a note on the refrigerator, and took it down to read it.

“ _Hey, honey. Your father and I had to take a last-minute trip out of town for work. Don’t think we chose this. Neither one of us were able to get out of it. But we did leave some money for you for food and stuff. We should be back in a few days._

_Love,_

_Mom._ ”

“ _sigh_. Like they were going to be much help anyway.” I said to myself.

I rummaged through the kitchen for some snacks to eat cause I didn’t feel like having a meal for dinner tonight. I eventually settled for a bag of potato chips and headed for my room to go to bed. After I changed into my pajamas, I laid in my bed watching TV while snacking on the bag of chips. About an hour later, I grew tired and decided to go to sleep.

_Maybe I’ll feel better after a good night’s rest. There’s a part of me that doubts it, but it’s worth a shot._

I turned the light in my room off and took my Red Puyo Hat off my head as I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Or at least, that’s how it should’ve been.

Because not too long after, I heard a loud crash coming from the backyard. It scared me so much that I fell out my bed and landed on my bottom.

“Wh-What was that?!” I shouted to myself.

I looked outside my window, which faced the backyard, to see something had fallen from the sky and landed in the backyard.

“Get real!”  
I ran downstairs and turned the lights of the living room and the backyard on as I made my way outside. As I got closer to the thing, I noticed that it had a pink color to it. I pulled the thing out the ground to see that it was a species I’ve never seen before. It had no resemblance to Dongurigaeru or Onion Pixy. In fact, he looked cuter than the other two.

“What is this thing? It looks like a…puffball of some sorts.”

The pink puffball then tried to move, but failed due to it being in pain.

“Oh no! You’re hurt! Don’t worry, little guy! I’ll help you!”

I grabbed the puffball-looking thing and carried it into my arms as I brought it back to my room. Now was it smart for me to do that? No, not completely. But I couldn't just leave it there, buried in the ground, twitching in pain.

And besides, something about this thing feels…special, in a way. I don’t know why, but I feel like exciting things are about to happen.

Guess I’ll have to wait until the little guy wakes up.

 


	2. New Best Buddies

I brought the little guy to my room and laid it on my bed. It was still out cold and twitching in pain. I didn't know what else to do, so I went to the bathroom to get a rag and wet it with warm water. I came back to my room and started wiping down the thing of its bruises. While doing so, I accidentally poked it.

“Teehee. This thing’s really squishy.”

I continued to poke it, feeling more terrible each time I did it. I couldn’t help it. I kinda have a short attention span. Not as short as Sig’s, but it’s part of the reason I’m failing my classes right now.

After I poked it a few more times, the thing began to move. I backed up a bit, feeling a little scared of what this thing might do. Fortunately, all it did was turned on its stomach.

“Phew, that was close.” I said. “I should probably stop poking the little guy.”

I looked closer at the pink thing to see that it's breathing normally. I did a sigh of relief once I noticed it.

“Oh, good. It looks like it’s asleep now. **_*yawn*_** I should probably go to sleep now too.”

As I got myself into bed, I took my hat off once again and tried to go to sleep. Before I closed my eyes, I took one last glance of the sleeping pink thing laying on my bed.

“Who or whatever this thing is, it looks really cute. Even cuter than Carbuncle. Can’t tell Arle I said that, though.”

I giggled to myself as I drifted my way to sleep.

 

 ** _*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_**

“ _ugh…_ ”

 ** _*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_**

“ ** _*moan*_** _five more minutes, mommy._ ”

 ** _*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_** **_*Rustle*_**

“H-Huh? What the…what is that noise?”

I was woken up the next morning to a rustling sound that kept getting louder and louder. It was irritating me to no end, so I got up to see what was making the noise. That’s when I noticed that the pink thing was gone.

“Huh?! Hey! Where’d you go, little buddy?!” I began panicking.

As I started looking, the rustling sound got louder as I got closer to the far end of my room. Turns out the rustling was coming from the bag of potato chips that I didn’t finish last night. It was moving on its own, which had me a little scared. I inched closer to it and grabbed the top of the bag. I yanked the bag up to see that the pink thing was eating the chips. It had a cute smile on its face while eating them, so I guess it enjoyed them a lot.

“Phew. There you are.” I said with a sigh of relief.

The puffball stopped eating once it heard my voice. It stood up on its pudgy red feet and walked up to with no hesitation. It had a look of what looked like…curiosity. Its galaxy-looking eyes and small opening for its mouth made me think off only one thing:

_So cute!_

“H-Hey, little guy. Feeling any better?” I asked.

“Poyo?”

_Poyo? What does that mean? It is another language?_

“…So, uh…what’s your name?”

“Poyo.”

_Seriously, what does that mean? Is it trying to say Puyo?_

“Get real. I have no idea what you’re saying. Now what am I supposed to do?”

I was about to sit on my bed and sulk around when I took a look at my Red Puyo Hat sitting at the edge of my bed. It reminded me of something that happened a while ago. It was scary, yes, but I did learn something from it.

_I wonder…does that trick still work? I haven’t done it since that day, and my parents and even Lemres said that I shouldn’t…_

I looked at my hat again and decided that, against everyone’s wishes, I should try it and see if it still works.

“Hey, little buddy. You mind putting this hat on?”

“Poyo?”

“If you do, we might be able to understand each other.”

“Poyo…”

The pink puffball took the hat from me and stared at it a bit more. I can tell it looked unsure of putting it on.

“Come on. You can trust me. I’m your friend.”

The thing did as I said and placed my hat on its head. After a few seconds, I started to get dizzier and dizzier until I passed out on the floor. When I came to, I realized I was in the pink thing’s body.

_Get really real! The trick still works! Now I can just read the little guy’s thoughts and find out who or what it is._

I closed my eyes (or well, the puffball’s eyes) and took a deep breath as I began reading its thoughts.

_Let's see…his name is…Kirby. What a nice name. Woah! He's from a totally different world! Just like Arle and Ringo. And…he's a…star warrior? Never heard of those. Alright. That should be enough info for now. I better get back to my body before it starts roaming around again._

I placed my hat on my body. After a few seconds, I woke up to be back in my body.

“Poyo, poyo…” Kirby sounded amazed at what just happened.

“ ***giggle*** Impressed, are ya?” I said. “It’s a special trick I gained access to a while ago. It’s a long and somewhat scary story on how that happened. So can we please not talk about it?”

“Poyo!” Kirby agreed.

I smiled at how cute the little guy is. At a standing height, he’s at my waist. A lot taller than the other creatures here in Primp.

“So anyway. With that out of the way, hiya, Kirby! The name’s Amitie! My dream is to be a wonderful magician. Nice to meet you!”

“Hiiiii!”

_OMG, he’s so cute! I just want to snuggle him all day!_

As I was having that thought, I heard a rumbling noise. I then looked over to see Kirby holding his…stomach? Honestly, I couldn't tell if he had one or not. But what I could tell was that he was hungry.

"Oh yeah. I guess you really haven't eaten anything since you crash landed in my backyard." I said while rubbing the back of my head.

“Poyo?” Kirby looked confused at what I just said.

“Huh? You mean you don’t remember? You fell from the sky and were unconscious in my backyard. So I brought you inside and cleaned you up of your bruises.”

“Poyo poyo poyo…”

“Hey, Kirby. Where are you from, anyway?”

“Poyo poyo.”

“A place called Dream Land?”

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“On a planet called Popstar?”

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“And the last thing you remember is riding something called an Air Ride?”

“Poyo!”

“Wow. All of that sounds real neat-o!”

“Poyo poyo…”

“You miss your home, do you?”

“Poyo…”

“Don’t worry, Kirby! I’ll help you find a way back home! In the meantime, you can stay with me! How does that sound?”

“Poyo!” Kirby sounded happy as he jumped up and down in excitement. I couldn’t help but giggle at the little guy. I know I’ve said this enough times already, but he’s just so dang cute! But then something came to mind.

“You know, Kirby. Ever since I put my hat on you, I’ve been able to understand everything you say.” I said.

“Poyo…?” Kirby sounded confused.

"Maybe it's because our friendships getting stronger or something like that."

“Poyo poyo!”

“ ***giggle*** I’m glad you agree. Come on, let’s find something to eat. I’m getting hungry, too.”

“Poyo!” Kirby said with a smile on his face, which in turn, made me gained a smile on mine.

 

Once I brought Kirby to the kitchen, I looked around to see if I could find anything for us to eat. And unfortunately, there wasn’t much.

_Guess that explains why my parents left money for me…_

After a few more attempts of looking, I eventually found a couple of apples in the fridge. There wasn’t much in the bag they were in, but it was something until I go food shopping after school today.

“Hey, Kirby. You like apples?” I asked.

Kirby grew a huge smile on his face as he began jumping up and down in excitement.

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo!”

“Teehee. I’ll take that as a yes.”

I brought the bag of apples to the counter where Kirby was at and his mouth started drooling.

“Here you go, little buddy.” I gave Kirby and apple and he ate the whole thing in one bite!

“You want another one?”

“Poyo!”

I gave him another apple and, just like the first one, ate the thing whole.

“Here, just have the whole bag.”

“Poyo poyo!” I watched as Kirby snarfed down apple after apple, eating them whole and even swallowing the stems.

_Wow, what an appetite! Seeing Kirby eat like this reminds me of when I took care of Tama. I wonder how he’s doing…_

 

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Kirby continued to look at the apple. Then out of nowhere, he stood on the counter and showed the apple to me.

“Y-You want me to have it?”

“Poyo!”

“ _Aw_

“Here, you can have the rest.” I said.

“Poyo?”

“I’m sure. I need to get ready for school anyway. I’m grateful for it, though.”

“Poyo!” Once again, Kirby ate the apple in one bite.

“You have quite the appetite, don’t you?”

“Poyo poyo…” Kirby sounded sad.

“Nonono…it’s okay. I was just curious. We’ll buy more food at the store after school, okay?”

“Poyo?”

"Well, of course, you're coming with me. I can't leave you here by yourself, can I? What friend would do that?"

"Poyo…" Kirby looked unsure of the idea. I don't blame him, coming to a whole new world without knowing what's on the outside. I would be scared, too.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe in my backpack. No one will know you’re there.”

“Poyo poyo!” I managed to convince him.

“Great! Just let me change my clothes and I’ll meet you back here, okay?”

“Poyo poyo!”

I ran upstairs to my room and closed the door behind me. Afterward, I sunk down my door to the floor giggling in high spirits.

“Wow, we've only met just a couple of hours ago and we're already best buddies. I really feel like something big is about to happen. And no matter if it's good or bad, I'm ready to explore it with my new best friend! Watch me now!”

I stopped for a sec and looked around me in confusion.

“Uhh…who did I say that to?”

 


	3. Backpack Hideout

After I finished changing my clothes, I ran back downstairs to the kitchen with my backpack to meet up with Kirby, who was going through the empty bag of apples to see if he missed any.

“I’m back, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

"So here's the backpack I was talking about." I said while placing it on the counter.

Kirby looked at the backpack from all angles, then looked inside the bag to see all of my school books inside.

“Poyo?”

“Sure, you can fit. Some of these books I don’t even use anymore, but just forgot to take out.”

Even after I took all the unnecessary books out, Kirby looked unsure that he’ll fit inside it.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out right?” I asked.

“Poyo.”

Kirby placed one foot inside the bag and then the other. He then sunk down inside the bag until he couldn’t go any further.

“See? Perfect fit!” I said with glee.

“Poyo!”

“You okay in there? Ready to go?”

“Poyo Poyo!”

“Alrighty! Let’s go!”

With Kirby safely hidden inside my backpack, we both left my house and I started walking down the path to Primp Magic School.

 

As I walked down the path, I showed Kirby a quick tour of everything that is to do in Primp Town. I showed him the entrance to Nahe Forest, the park, the plaza filled with shops, and finally, our last stop, Primp Magic School.

“Poyo poyo?”

“Yep. This is my school.” I said to him. “Pretty neat-o, huh?”

“Poyo…” Kirby sounded amazed at the sight of the building in front of him.

“Hey, Kirby. Did you ever went to school?”

Kirby thought about it for a second, then shook his head no.

“Really?! Not once?!”

“Poyo.”

“ ***moan*** Lucky.” I pouted.

“Uh, Amitie…who are you talking to?”

I quickly wrapped my backpack around my back and turned around to see Lidelle standing in front of me.

“O-Oh! M-Morning, Lidelle! N-Nice day we’re having, huh?” I asked nervously.

“Yes, it is. But…who were you talking to just now?”

"Oh, that? I was just uh…"

_Fiddlesticks! I didn’t think people would get suspicious already! I have to think of something to protect Kirby’s identity and quick!_

“Uh…I was talking to… **MY BACKPACK!** Yeah, that’s it! I was talking to my backpack!”

“Your backpack?” Lidelle looked confused.

“Yeah! You know how I’m just a soul controlling this body from inside my hat? Well, it’s kinda like that. Only it’s a backpack, and it doesn’t have a body to control.”

“I see.”

“Do you get it, now?”

“No, not really. But it sounds nice. A little weird, but mostly nice.”

“Yep! That’s just who I am! Nice and weird! _Heheheh._ ”

“O…kay then.” Lidelle brushed off that last comment like it was nothing. “We should probably get to class now. Don’t want to be late.”

“Uh, yeah. Let me just call my parents and tell them I’m at school. I’ll meet you and everyone else inside.” I said.

“Okay. See you in a bit.” I watched as Lidelle walked inside the school building.

“ _Phew._ That was close.”

“Poyo?” Kirby said while poking his head from out the backpack.

“Oh. That was just one of my friends. Her name is Lidelle.” I explained.

“Poyo.”

“Hey, Kirby. Thanks for not saying anything during all that. Do you think you could do that until school’s over?”

“Poyo!”

“Thanks, little buddy! I definitely owe you for this. What do you want for dinner? My treat.”

“…”

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

"Superspicy curry? You have that back in Dream Land?"

“Poyo!”

“Alrighty then! Super-spicy curry it is!”

“Poyo poyo!”

We then heard the school bell ring meaning it was time for class to start.

“Shoot! I’m going to be late! Remember what I said, Kirby.”

"Poyo." Kirby gave a slight nod and hid back inside my backpack. I then ran inside the school building, hoping that I won't be tardy for all this.

 

When I got inside the school, I ran to my classroom just seconds before being late, which is a first for me. I sat down at my desk near the window and placed my backpack with Kirby inside in between me and the window.

“All we have to do is get through the school day, which is about 4 hours. After this, we can go to the store, alright?” I whispered to Kirby.

The backpack did a small hop, letting me know that Kirby heard what I said.

“Thanks again, buddy.” I smiled.

“Amitie.”

I heard a dull, unamused voice calling my name, and I turned to see Sig standing over me.

“Oh. Hey, Sig. How’s it going?”

“Good.” Was all he said.

“Caught any cool bugs lately?”

“Yeah.” Was all he said.

“Well, that’s nice.”

“Hey, Amitie?”

“Yeah, Sig? What’s up?”

“Who were you talking to just now?”

It was here that I froze up in panic.

_Seriously?! When I **don’t** want his attention, he notices?!_

“U-Uh, w-well…” I stuttered, trying to think of an excuse.

“She said it’s one of those bodiless soul thingies. Much like her hat.” Lidelle answered for me.

_Thank you, Lidelle! You're a lifesaver!_

“Oh…I don’t get it.” Sig said.

“Me neither. She was talking to her backpack not too long ago.”

"Talking? To you backpack? That has to be the most childish thing I've ever heard!" Klug, overhearing our conversation, said to me. Once again, insulting my intelligence.

Normally, I would be defending my crazy antics from Klug’s insults right now, but I have to keep Kirby a secret. So I did something I’m not proud of.

“Yep! You’re right, Klug. That is pretty childish of me. Guess I’ll never be as mature as you.”

_God, that was painful to say._

“ ** _Kyahahahaha!_** ” Klug laughed. “Finally! Someone with a brain! I’m glad someone in this school realized that they’re no match for me! Although, I never thought it would be _you_ of all people, Amitie.”

_I am **so** going to regret this later._

"Hey! Lay off her, Klug!" This voice belonged to Raffina, who was sitting a few desks from the right of me.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, you she-ape!”

“ **WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!** ”

"Huh. So you're losing your hearing now?" Klug threw an insult at her. "That's really sad, Raffina. You missed out on Amitie giving up on ever being better than me. I suggest you do the same."

“ **GRRRR! WHY YOU LITTLE…** ” Raffina was about to charge at Klug and beat him to a pulp…

“Ok, kiddies. Let’s settle down now.”

But that’s when Ms. Accord showed up.

“B-But Ms. Accord!” Raffina whined. “I was about to teach Klug a thing or two about respect!”

“You’re blaming me?!” Klug asked. “It’s not **_my_** fault Amitie’s so blockheaded that’s she talking to her backpack!”

_Blockheaded?!_

“Talking to her backpack? Amitie, what is Klug talking about?” Ms. Accord asked me.

_Great! Now the whole class knows that I was talking to a backpack! At least it’s not the real truth._

“Oh, that? It’s just a phase I’m going through. I’m perfectly fine.”

“A _phase_?”

“Yep. Just a phase.”

“ _Really_?”

“Yes, really.”

“Are you _sure_ it’s just a phase?”

“Yes! I’m sure! I’m 100% positive! Now can we please just start the lesson please, teacher?!”

“…”

Everyone looked at me with some form of a shocked look on their faces.

“Uh…okay. Let us begin.” Ms. Accord said, then turned around to face the chalkboard.

As everyone took their seats, I looked down at my backpack. Kirby hasn't moved or said anything throughout that entire scene. I appreciate him for doing so, but I was worried that we won't be able to keep this ruse up for long.

This is going to be a long day.

 


	4. Secret's Out

I honestly didn't think we would make it these 4 hours. Every so often while practicing my Puyo chains I would look over towards my backpack to see if Kirby was okay, which got everyone suspicious every time. During lunch, I gave Kirby some of my food, which from everyone else's point of view looked like I was dumping food in my backpack. Kirby did like the food though, despite me looking like a complete nutcase.

When class was finally over, I was so happy that I could release this build-up tension I’ve had the entire time. I was just about to bolt out the classroom but just as I was near the door…

“Oh, Amitie. Can I speak to you for a second?”

_Crud._

Ms. Accord had asked if we could talk about something. No doubt about how I was acting today.

“S-Sure, Ms. Accord. Wh-What’s up?” I said nervously. Ms. Accord noticed my stuttering, but continued anyway.

“Well, it just how odd you’ve been acting today. It’s not like you.”

“Really? I’m feeling fine. Never better.”

“Amitie, you were feeding and talking to your backpack.”

“Well, I am a little tired…”

“And what’s this about Lidelle telling me that your backpack has a soul in it?”

_Aw, get really real, Lidelle!_

“Amitie…are you messing around with your hat?”

“What?! No! Of course not! I would never do something like that!”

“Just checking. We don’t want a repeat of last time.”

Oh, geez. **_Last time…_** I still get shivers thinking of that.

“A-Anyway, Ms. Accord. Can I go now? I really need to go grocery shopping.”

“Oh really? What are you getting?”

“Stuff for dinner tonight. I’m making Superspicy Curry!”

“Superspicy Curry? I didn’t know you liked spicy things.”

“Well, I’m trying new things. Anyway bye!”

Before Ms. Accord could say anything else, I bolted out the classroom as fast I could.

 

A few meters away from the school I decided to take a break to regain my breath for a while.

“Poyo?” Kirby popped out from the bag.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Kirby. Just taking a breather. Hey, thanks for not blowing your cover back there. You were great!"

“Poyo poyo!”

“Although, I don’t think we can keep this up much longer. People are starting to get suspicious.”

“Poyo?” Kirby tilted his head.

_I can’t get enough on how cute that is!_

"Those were my classmates and teacher. I already told you about Lidelle. The blue-haired boy is Sig. He's a bit spacey. The pink-haired girl is Raffina. She can be scary at times, but she's nice to me every once in a while. The boy wearing the purple clothes is Klug. He's a jerk. That's just all he is. And my teacher is Ms. Accord. She's really good at magic. Though she can be a little suspicious sometimes."

“Poyo…” Kirby sounded amazed at how I described everyone.

Anyway, let’s head for the store now. I can’t wait to have some of that Superspicy Curry.”

“Poyo!”

Kirby ducked back into the backpack and I continued walking to the grocery store. After that run, however, I realized that I ran all the way to the park. Which is the complete opposite direction of where I need to go.

“Aw, fiddlesticks! I’m going the wrong way!” I wined.

“Hey! Amitie!” I heard a voice call out to me.

I looked over to see it was Arle and Ringo, who were heading towards me. Carbuncle was on Arle’s shoulder hitching a ride. Probably got tired.

“Oh. Hey, guys!” I said while waving my hand.

“Whatcha doing? You feeling any better?” Arle asked.

“Yep! Feeling great! I was heading to the store to grab stuff to make Superspicy Curry.”

“Superspicy Curry? Never heard of that. And I’m the curry expert!”

“Gu gu!” Carbuncle said.

“Yeah, me neither.” Ringo added. “Where’d you heard of this _Superspicy Curry_?”

I can’t really tell them that I got it from a friend. Because if I do, they’re going to keep asking me about said friend and Kirby would be found out.

“I thought of it myself.” I said.

“ _Right…_ ” Both girls said.

“H-Hey! What’s **that’s** supposed to mean?!”

“It’s not an insult or anything, Amitie. It’s just that’s not something you would normally think of.” Arle explained.

“Yeah, you normally think of multitudes of sweets to eat.” Ringo claimed.

“Well, doesn’t that mean I’m maturing a little?!”

“Eh…”

“Meanies!”

“You just proved our point, Am.” Ringo said.

While I was arguing with Arle and Ringo, I started feeling a jab on my backpack and looked to see what was happening.

“C-Carbuncle! Wh-What are you doing?!” I began panicking.

Apparently, Carbuncle had snuck off Arle’s shoulder and went behind me. And was now punching my backpack with his ears.

“St-Stop it already! Y-You’re damaging my bag!”

“Carby! Knock it off!” Arle shouted.

“Gu gu gu gu!”

“Huh? There’s something in there?”

“Well, of course there's something in there! It's my schoolbooks!" I yelled.

But that didn’t stop Carbuncle. He did one last powerful punch on my backpack that it flew off my back and landed on the ground. Sending Kirby right out of it.

“ **GAH!** Kirby! You okay?!” I shouted, still in a panicked state as I ran towards him.

Kirby was able to get up on his own and began rubbing his head in pain.

“Poyo…”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Poyo.”

“Well, I’m glad for that. But now we have a new problem.”

“A-Amitie! Wh-What **is** that thing?!” Ringo asked, blown out of her mind.

“It’s so pink…and puffy…” Arle said.

“Look, guys. I know I don’t have a choice but to explain everything, but can we talk about this at my house, after I go to the store? I don’t want other people to know about this.”

Arle and Ringo looked at each other with confused faces then turned back to me.

“Uh, sure Amitie.” Arle said.

“If it helps, we’re willing to wait a bit.” Ringo said.

“ _sigh._ Thanks, you guys. Come on, Kirby. Let’s get you back in the bag.”

“Poyo.”

Kirby got back in the backpack and we all headed for the nearest grocery store. This time, I made Arle carry Carbuncle in her arms. Because now I don’t trust him walking on his own two feet.

 

I managed to go to the store and grabbed the stuff I needed without Arle and Ringo saying a word. Which is a bit odd, because normally whenever one of us has a secret, the other two would constantly bug secret holder until she broke. They either respect the problem I’m in, or they really want to know the secret.

I’m going with the latter.

We were now walking to my house and Arle and Ringo still haven’t said a word. Which was great because it gave me time to think to myself.

_Fiddlesticks! This is not good! Kirby’s been found out and now I have to explain everything! And we were doing so well, too! I can just only hope it doesn’t get any worse._

“Amitie!”

We were just now approaching my house when I heard a voice call to me. When I came to and saw who it was, I was even more of a nervous wreck.

“R-Raffina?! Wh-What are you doing here?!” I asked in a panicked state.

“I came to check on you.” Raffina said. “You were acting weird all day.”

“What? Me? No. I’m perfectly fine. Completely normal.”

“Yeah…I wouldn’t call talking to your backpack and feeding it food _normal_.”

“Talking to your backpack?” Arle asked.

“Feeding your backpack?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah, she did that during school today. It had me suspicious all day. Something’s up with your backpack, Amitie. And I’m not leaving until I find out what it is!”

_Why me?_

 

“F-Fine, Raffina.” I said. “But I’m not telling you out here. You’ll have to come inside.”

“As long as I get to know what’s going on, I’ll do anything.”

 

As the four of us (five if you count Carbuncle and six if you count Kirby) walked inside my house, my heart began beating faster. I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t know how any of them would react to seeing someone like Kirby. What if they tell people and have Kirby taken away? I don’t want that to happen! Kirby’s my friend! He’s made me happy these past few hours and I don’t want to lose him. If I could get him back to his own world, at least…that’ll be enough for me…I think…

“So what’s going on, Amitie?” Ringo asked. “What was that thing that fell out your backpack?”

“Wait, you saw a thing?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, it was pink, round, and puffy.” Arle said.

“Okay, okay! Just let me explain. Or better yet, I’ll just show you.”

I took a short break of silence before continuing on with this whole confession thing.

“ _sigh._ Alright, Kirby. You can come out now.”

“Kirby?” The three girls asked.

“Just watch.”

Just then, Kirby popped his head out the bag and eventually climbed out of it. As he stood on his two feet, the three girls were in shock.

“Everyone, this is Kirby. He’s a friend of mine.” I said.

“Hiiiii!” Kirby said.

“Oh…” Arle said.

“My…” Ringo said.

“God…” Raffina said.

Then, after a few seconds of silence…

“ **HE’S SOOOO CUTE!!!** ” They all squealed.

“Wait, really?” I was shocked to get **_that_** reaction.

“ **I can’t believe you’ve kept such a cutie all to yourself, Amitie!** ” Raffina said.

“ **Such an adorable little thing! I could just cuddle it all day!** ” Ringo added.

“ **Hey, say something, little cutie!** ” Arle begged.

“Poyo.”

“ ***girly scream x3* CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!!** ” They all screamed.

“W-Wow.” I stood there, blown out of my mind.

“Poyo poyo?”

“No, they’re not normally like this.”

“Wait, you can understand him, Amitie?” Ringo asked.

“Lucky! I wanna know what the little cutie’s saying!” Arle wined.

“Gu gu!” Carbuncle said, sounding a bit angry.

“Well, yeah. You’re cute too, Carby. But I’m with you every day.”

“ _Gu…_ ”

I think Carbuncle’s getting jealous of Kirby.

“Yeah, I can understand him. It’s like some kind of special power.”

“Special power?” They all asked.

“W-Well…you see…I _may_ have placed my hat on Kirby’s head…”

“ **YOU DID WHAT?!** ”

“I was out of ideas, okay!”

“Yeah, but that was a risky thing to do!” Raffina said.

“But it worked, didn’t it?”

“…”

“Yeah, true.”

"Anyway, after I did that, Kirby told me that he came from a world named Dream Land that's on a planet called Popstar. And that he crash-landed in my backyard after riding something called an Air Ride."

“Whoa! Another world?! He’s just like us, Ringo!” Arle said.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird. Everything tends to fall into this world." Ringo claimed.

“Yeah, but you get used to it.” Raffina said.

“Poyo…”

“You know now that I listen closely, whenever Kirby talks, it sounds like he’s saying _Puyo_.”

“Yeah, I’ve had the same thought when I first met him.” I answered. “But it’s actually _poyo_.”

“Poyo?” Ringo sounded confused.

“It kinda means everything.”

“Oh, I get it! It’s like Carby saying _Gu_ all the time!” Arle said.

“The two of them are quite similar.” Raffina noted.

“ **GU GU GU GU!!!** ”

“Hey, don’t be mean, Carby!”

“ **GU! GU! GU!** ”

“You’re being ridiculous!”

“Arle, is Carbuncle…” Ringo began asking.

“Yeah. Sounds like he’s jealous of Kirby. For what, I don’t know. But what do know is that he’s going to BEHAVE!”

“Gu!” Carbuncle turned to face away from Arle, folding his arms and pouting like a little kid.

_Yep. Definitely jealous._

“S-So, guys. Can I trust you to not tell anyone about Kirby? At least until we find a way to send him back home?”

“Sure, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Whatever we can do to help.” Ringo added.

“Your secret’s safe with us!” Raffina agreed.

We all then looked at Carbuncle, who still had his back turned to us, and still pouting.

“Carby…you better promise not to say anything.” Arle demanded.

Carbuncle didn’t say anything and instead walked over towards the living room.

“ _sigh._ So stubborn.”

“Thanks, everyone.” I said.

“Poyo.”

“Oh right. Kirby, these are my friends.”

“Hiya, Kirby! I’m Arle!”

“I’m Ringo. Nice to meet you, Kirby.”

“My name’s Raffina. I hope we can all be friends.”

“Hiiiii!”

“ ***another set of girly screams* SO CUTE!!!** ” They all squealed.

 I started laughing. The way they’re acting is starting to become funny now.

“Anyway, you guys want to stay for dinner? Me and Kirby were about to have some Superspicy Curry.”

“Superspicy Curry? Is that from Dream Land?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, Kirby eats it all the time.”

“Poyo poyo!”

“Curry from a different world? Now I really want to try it!” Arle cheered.

“Well, I just have to make it first. You’ll help me, right Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“ ***giggle*** Thanks, little buddy.”

 

As I was making preparations for the curry, I felt a heavy amount of stress lift off me. Now that I have fewer people to keep Kirby a secret from, finding a way to get him home should be a little easier now.

But then my heart began to ache at the thought of returning Kirby back to his world. Sure, it’s the right thing to do…

_…But do I really want him to go?_

 


	5. Friendly Advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Misuki = Witch

Ever since that night, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina have been coming over to my house to see Kirby. I didn’t really mind. In fact, I’m glad Kirby has more friends to talk to…even though I have to translate for him.

But what’s been bugging me lately is that these friendly play dates are gonna have to end soon. Kirby’s going to have to go back home eventually, but I don’t think I can handle saying goodbye to him. He’s filled a hole in my heart that was left due to me feeling alone, and when he leaves, I fear that it might reappear again.

Plus, I don’t know _how_ to get him there.

“Poyo…” Kirby said while tugging on my shirt to get my attention.

“Huh? Oh hey, Kirby. Done playing with everyone?”

“Poyo poyo.”

“Huh? Me? I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”

“No, Amitie. I think he’s right.” Ringo said, standing over me.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’ve been sitting around moping to yourself for the past couple of days.” Raffina said.

“Amitie. If there’s something bothering you, you can tell us.” Arle said. “We’re your friends. We can help.”

I thought about this for a second. The fact that everyone’s willing to help me and refer themselves as my friends made me feel a little better.

"Well…It's about Kirby. I still have no idea how to get him back to his own world. And even when I do find a way…"

“You don’t want him to go, do you?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“You two have gotten really close huh?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah, I know how you feel, Amitie.” Arle said. “Whenever Carby runs off somewhere, I get real lonely without him. But then he comes back and everything’s normal again, right Carby?”

Carbuncle didn’t say anything.

“Carby?”

Carbuncle still didn’t say anything.

“Carby…” Arle sounded annoyed that time.

Still, the silence continued.

“ **CARBY!** ” Arle shouted.

Carbuncle, still not saying a word, jumped off the couch and went outside, most likely to run off again.

“ **Grrr…** So stubborn!”

“But at least he’ll come back to you…eventually.” I said. “Once Kirby leaves, I’ll be alone again.”

“Who said you’ll be alone?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, you got us Amitie.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, but…”

“Poyo poyo. Po-poyo poyo. Po-poyo.”

“Really, Kirby? You feel the same way?”

“Poyo!”

“Thanks, little buddy.”

“Uh…Amitie?” The other girls said.

“Oh, right. He said that he’s going to miss me too, but knows he has to go back as soon as possible.”

“ _Awwww…_ ” The three girls said.

“Anyway. I’ve been doing some thinking, and I may know someone who can help.” I said.

“Really, who?” Arle asked.

“I’m gonna have to go ask in person. You guys can tag along if you want.”

“I wish, but I’ve got to get home.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, me too. I’ve got homework to do.” Ringo added.

“We’ll come, right Car…”

It was then that Arle remembered that Carbuncle left with a stubborn attitude, and was probably going to be a while before she would see him again.

“…Right.” She said, sounding a little annoyed. “I have to look for him now.”

“Alrighty then. Come on, Kirby.”

“Poyo!”

Kirby got in the bag I use for school that one day and the 5 of us left my house doing our own separate thing.

 

I made my way towards the plaza looking for a specific shop that I go to all the time. Granted, I don't buy anything from this shop, but the shopkeeper is a really good friend of mine.

After a few minutes, I found the shop I was looking for and stepped inside.

“Hey, Misuki! You here?!” I shouted, but didn’t get a response.

“Huh. She must be inside her loft.”

I went deeper inside the shop to the door leading to the door to said loft. Misuki had given me a key since I tend to spend the night here a lot. Once I opened the door, I tried calling her out again.

“Hey! Misu…”

I stopped after seeing something most people would find scary, but I’ve gotten used to seeing.

It was a yellow Puyo hoping around next to Misuki's broom.

“ _sigh._ Not again.”

Misuki has been practicing extra hard on her potion-making skills lately. All to become a real witch. But so far, she hasn't been successful. In fact, 9 times out of 10, this was the end result.

 

“ **FAERIE FIRE!!!** ” I shouted.

Just then, a magic circle appeared underneath the yellow Puyo and it started to glow. After a while, it turned back into the witch in training that I came to know as my friend.

“Th-Thanks, Ami.” Misuki said. “I’m really grateful that you know that spell.”

“Geez, Misuki. I’m not going to be able to revive you every time this happens.”

“I know, but I feel like I’m close this time.”

“You said that the last time. And the time before that. And the time before that. And the time before that.”

“Okay, I get it!” Misuki sounded insulted.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“So, what brings you here today, Ami? Staying over again?”

“I wish, but no. I actually need your help with something.”

“Really? With what?”

“Well…it’s best if I show you.”

Misuki was confused by what I said, but I really couldn’t explain everything that’s happened these past few days in words. I went and grabbed my backpack and placed it on the table between the two couches.

"Okay, Kirby. The coast is clear."

“Kirby?” Misuki asked.

“Just watch.”

As I said that, Kirby came out of the bag and stood on top of the table.

“Kirby. This is my friend, Misuki. Misuki. This is my friend, Kirby.”

“Hiiiii!”

“ _Aw!_ He’s so cute, Ami! Where’d you find him?”

"He actually crash-landed in my backyard a few days ago."

“Lucky! I could use someone like him for an assistant.”

“Well, you can’t. I actually need your help in sending him back home.”

“Huh? Back home?”

“You see, Kirby’s from a different world. A place called Dream Land.”

“ **Dr-Dream Land?!** ” Misuki shouted in shock.

“Yeah…” I didn’t understand why she reacted like that at first, but after some quick thinking…

“…W-Wait…Misuki, have you **been** to Dream Land before?”

“Well, no. But I actually know someone who lives there.”

“ _You know someone who lives in a completely different world?_ ” I asked with an unamused look on my face.

"Look, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true!"

“Okay, then. What’s this person’s name?”

“Uh, well…I forgot. But he’s a short guy with no legs, which makes him float, two hands with no arm connected, and last time I saw him, he wore a blue outfit of some sorts.”

“ **POYO! POYO! POYO!** ” Kirby started jumping in excitement.

“What’s wrong, Kirby?” I asked.

“Poyo poyo poyo!”

“Huh? That’s your friend, Magolor?”

“Magolor! That’s his name! He even gave me something to use just in case I wanted to go visit him!”

“Really?!”

“Yep! I just…need to find it, though.”

“Misuki…”

“Give me a break, Ami! It’s been years since I’ve seen him!”

“Alright. You hear that, Kirby? You get to go home soon!”

“Poyo!”

I sounded happy for him, but really that feeling of emptiness came back again. I know that I have Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Misuki, and the other to keep me company, but I’m really going to miss Kirby.

“Hey, Ami. You okay?” Misuki asked me, noticing the sad aura around me.

“Huh? W-Well…”

“Poyo poyo…”

“ _Sigh._ I know, Kirby. I shouldn’t feel sad. We did have lots of fun together. But I wish there was something else we could do, to remember each other by.”

“Well, there is that _one_ thing…” Misuki said.

“Huh? What one thing?”

“You know. _That_ thing.”

It took me a while to figure out what she was talking about, but when I did, I never felt more excited before this moment.

“ **Misuki! You’re a genius!** ” I cheered while giving her a hug.

“G-Genius, huh? Th-That’s…I could get used to that.” Misuki stuttered.

“So, you’ll find this thing you got from this Magolor guy, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll look for it. I’ll call you when I do find it.”

“Alrighty! Come on, Kirby!”

“Poyo?” Kirby looked confused.

“We’re going to have one last bit of fun together! And I know just the way to do it!”

“Poyo…” Kirby still looked confused, but he didn’t question it. He then got in the bag as I placed it on my back.

“See you later, Misuki!”

“Later, Ami.”

I left Misuki’s shop and headed home in a hurry, excited for what I had planned for tomorrow.

 


	6. Spells and Copy Abilities

“You’re kidding?!”

“Seriously?!”

“No joke?!”

These were the reactions I got from Arle, Ringo, and Raffina when I met up with them the next day and told them what I want to do with Kirby during our last few moments together.

“I’m not kidding, I’m serious and it’s no joke.” I answered all their questions. “I’m gonna teach Kirby how to play Puyo Puyo!”

“Poyo Poyo?” Kirby asked.

“No, _Puyo Puyo._ ”

“Poyo Poyo.”

“Now you got it!”

“Poyo!”

"Look, Amitie. Not to be discouraging and all, but there's **NO WAY** you can teach Kirby how to play Puyo in one day! It’s impossible!” Ringo said.

“How is it impossible, Ringo? You managed to do it.”

“Hey yeah, she’s right. You **DID** manage to learn how to play in a single day!" Arle said. "Less than that even!"

“How the hell did _that_ happen, Ringo?” Raffina asked. All three of us girls were staring at Ringo with looks of high suspicion.

“U-Uh, w-well…y-you girls know. I-I had to save the world and stuff.” Ringo stuttered.

“ _Right…_ ” We didn’t believe her.

“Hey, we would be buried in puyos right now if it wasn’t for my quick learning! You three should be grateful!”

“Geek.” The three of us said.

“ **I’M NOT A GEEK!** ”

“Poyo?”

“Oh right. Sorry, Kirby. Got a bit distracted.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about, Am! You get easily distracted.”

“Yeah, Ringo’s right, Amitie.” Arle agreed. “Even though she learned how to play in just mere _hours_ …”

“ **Will you just let that go already?!** ”

“…Anyway, despite that happening, there are a lot of complex things to learn about Puyo.”

“And you’re not **_exactly_** the best Puyo player, Ami.” Raffina added.

“ **Hmph!** Well then, fine! You three are gonna help me!”

“Huh?!”

"Don't act surprised! If you three think you can do a better job than me, then prove it!"

“H-Hold on, Am! Th-That’s not what we're saying!” Ringo claimed.

“Y-You got it all wrong, Amitie!” Arle said.

“Ami! Just listen for a sec!” Raffina begged.

“ **TOO LATE! WE’RE DOING THIS! I CHALLENGE ALL THREE OF YOU!** ”

The three girls then grew eager smirks on their faces as soon as they heard the word _challenge_.

“ _Alright, Ami! Just so you know, I have been practicing my moves more since we last battled!_ ” Raffina bragged.

“ _And just because I don’t have Carby with me doesn’t mean I’ll lose to you!_ ” Arle claimed.

“ _I’m not going to go easy on you just because we’re friends, Am!”_ Ringo warned.

“ **Enough talk! Let’s…** ”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ” We all shouted.

 

“P-Poyo…” Kirby sounded amazed as he watched all of this happen.

“Pretty sweet, huh?” I asked. “This is what we call Puyo Puyo. Just watch me and I’ll show you the ropes, ‘kay?”

“Poyo!”

After Kirby agreed to watch, I then grabbed the first set of Puyo and started thinking of where to place them.

“ **THERE!** ” I shouted as I threw the red and blue puyos on top of their respected tower of colors.

“You see, Kirby? The point of the game is to connect 4 puyos of the same color in order to pop them. You do this while trying to create a big enough _chain_. Once you feel like your chain is big enough, you set it off. And every time a group of four puyos pop, you get a strange, but really good power that lets you perform magic spells!”

“Poyo…” Kirby sounded amazed.

“ **Hey, Amitie! You done teaching?! Cause I’m about to set off my chain!** ” Arle shouted.

“ **Wh-What?! How?! We just started!** ”

“ **I told you that you get distracted easily, Am! Now taste my wrath!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **Prepare yourself, Ami! Here comes my newest fighting move!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **Fiddlesticks! I have to hurry and counter!** ”

“ **Poyo! Poyo poyo!** ”

“You’ll help me, Kirby?”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“Thanks a bunch, little buddy!”

Kirby and I then each grabbed a set of puyos and begun flinging them to the right spots to build up a chain big enough to counter the chains the other girls made…

…which by the way, had already set off.

“ **HERE IT COMES, AMITIE!!!** ” All three yelled out.

“J-Just…one…more…set… **GOT IT!** " I shouted as I flung the last group of puyos, being an L-shaped purple Puyo.

“Ready, Kirby? Just follow my lead, okay?”

“Poyo!”

“And… **SET OFF!** ”

As our Puyo chain began to activate, I felt power building up inside me. This power was nothing new to me, as I've gained this much power before. But as I looked at Kirby, he was starting to glow, and there were stars circling around him. I didn't know what was happing to him, but I didn’t have any chance to ask. So I can only hope it would benefit us greatly.

“Alright! Here it comes! **FIRE!** " Arle cast her first spell.

“ **SINE!** ” Ringo did hers.

“ **NEIGE!** ” Raffina’s a special case. You see, she can’t use any spells. So she uses fighting techniques to unleash the power inside her. And they hurt, too! I’ve heard that she uses magic stored in her yellow pouch to increase her attacks, but she keeps denying it.

As the attacks came rushing towards us, I gained enough power to counter one of them. It isn’t much, but it’ll have to do.

“Okay! Here I go! **FLAME!** " I cast my first spell.

Then as I looked over towards Kirby, he had stopped glowing and the stars that were circling around him were gone…but now he appeared to have some kind of hat on his head, and it was spewing fire from it!

“ **SEARING BURN!** ” A voice shouted out. It wasn’t Kirby’s, but it sounded similar to his.

Then suddenly Kirby turned into a ball of fire and charged after my own fireballs, and somehow made them circle around him. He then charged after the other three spells/attacks and burst out the fireball, sending my own fireballs at the other girls. They looked like they were stronger too.

“W-Woah!” Arle shouted.

“Wh-What was that?!” Ringo asked in a panicked state.

“Th-That was insane!” Raffina yelled, blown out of her mind.

“K-Kirby…what did you just do?” I asked while looking at him in pure shock.

Kirby didn’t say anything, as he looked more confused than surprised. Around here, the puyos continued to pop more and we each had enough power to cast our lv. 2 spell.

“Well, let’s see if he can deflect this!” Arle boasted. “Ready, girls?”

“Sure am!” Ringo shouted.

“Right behind you, Arle!” Raffina said.

 **“ICE STORM!** ”

“ **COSINE!** ”

“ **FLAMME!** ”

“Take this! **CYCLOWHIRL!** ”

Kirby then ditched his fire hat and now had a hat with a mini tornado coming out of it! He then began spinning until he was a tornado himself! He circled around my Cyclowhirl spell until he was able to control it himself.

“ **FALLING GUST!** ” There was that same voice again.

Kirby then shot the mini tornado downwards along with my Cyclowhirl spell, nearly striking the three girls below. That spell...it also looked stronger than normal.

“I-It happened again!” Ringo shouted.

“Ami! What’s with Kirby?!” Raffina asked.

I couldn’t answer. I was too amazed at what I was seeing. My spells are usually the weakest in my class, so seeing them _this_ **WE** needed to end this match!

“ **BAYOEN!** ”

“ **PERMUTATION!** ”

“ **CEIL ARK!** ”

These were the girl’s lv. 5 spell/attack. Of course, I had my own.

“Ready, Kirby? This is our final attack!”

“Poyo!”

As I prepared to unleash my most powerful spell, Kirby changed hats again, this time wearing a weird-looking crown that had some kind of energy ball inside. The ball kept getting bigger as Kirby gained more power from the puyos. So much, in fact, that parts of the ground started rising up and circle around us. I've never felt this much power before in my life! It felt so good! I felt like an ultimate god or something! But now it's time! Time to unleash our full power and win this match!

“Ready?! And… **BAYOEN!!!!** ”

“ **SUPERNOVA!!!** ”

The pieces of ground that surrounded us were covered with the mist from my Bayoen spell. Then, in a huge bomb-like explosion, Kirby shot the ground pieces down towards the others, deflecting their attacks in the process.

“ **OH…** ”

“ **MY…** ”

“ **GOD!!!!!!** ” Were the only words I heard from the other girls before the ground pieces hit their targets.

 

The attack created a lot of dust, but when it eventually cleared, I saw Arle, Ringo, and Raffina completely buried in tons of nuisance Puyo.

“W-Woah…” I said, completely shocked at the mess we made.

“H-Hey, guys. You okay?”

I managed to pull all three of them out of the pile of nuisance Puyo and they all just stood there in complete and utter shock.

“A-Ami…Wh-What just happened?” Raffina asked.

“I-I’m not too sure myself, Raffina.”

“I’ve never seen so much power before! Not even when I’m fighting Satan!” Arle shouted.

“I don’t think even Ecolo has that much power.” Ringo claimed. “You weren’t kidding when you said Kirby’s from a different world, Am.”

“Kirby…do you know what happened?” I asked him.

We all turned to see that Kirby had fallen asleep on the ground.

“I guess all those attacks must’ve worn the little guy out.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Gugu!”

We then hear Carbuncle’s voice and turned back to see him standing next to Arle.

“There you are, Carby! Where have you been?! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Arle wined.

“ _Gugu!_ ”

“What do you mean it’s none of my business?!”

“Gugugu!”

“ **HMPH!** Well, whatever. You just missed a really cool Puyo match, anyway."

Carbuncle didn’t say anything and instead turned away from Arle in a pouty attitude.

“ _Y’know, I’m getting **real** ly tired of your stubbornness lately._”

Still nothing from Carbuncle.

“Hey! Ami!” We then heard another voice coming from the right of us. We then saw Misuki heading towards us.

“Hey, Misuki!” I replied.

“Misuki?” Arle looked confused.

“It’s a nickname I gave her.”

“You gave Witch a nickname? Since when are you two friends?”

“It’s a long story. Also a secret, which I’m not telling you.”

“ ** _*whine*_** ”

“Hey, Ami! I found th-holy crap, what happened here?” Misuki said as she took a look around the park.

"Let's just say it was an other-worldly Puyo battle." I explained.

“Fair enough. So I found the thing that Magolor gave me. It’s in my shop when you're ready to use it."

“Thanks, Misuki. I’ll come by tomorrow.”

“Wait, who’s Magolor?” Ringo asked.

“I’ll explain later. Right now I should probably get Kirby back to my house. He looks exhausted.”

“Alright then. Bye Amitie.”

I waved bye to everyone as I began walking home. As I did, I felt that same feeling of being alone again. I knew that in just a few hours, Kirby would be back in his home world and we’ll be separated.

_And I really don’t want that, honestly._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for fun, if by chance a Puyo Puyo X Kirby game does happen, this is how I picture Kirby’s attacks:
> 
> Fire Breath! (Fire)
> 
> Smash Punch! (Fighter)
> 
> Final Cutter! (Cutter)
> 
> Hammer Throw! (Hammer)
> 
> Supernova! (Crash)
> 
> His return spell would be Mirror Body – Ring (Mirror)
> 
> NOTE: He wouldn’t say the actual attack names, just Poyo.
> 
> When he gets by nuisance Puyo, it'll be his death animation. 
> 
> When he wins a match, he’ll hold a trophy and dance around like how you beat a true arena.
> 
> And finally, when he loses a match, it would be KO’d Kirby from Mass Attack.


	7. Farewell?

When I said I was going to go home, I lied. Instead, I went over to Misuki's shop to spend the night there. I could really use the comfort right now.

After I took a shower, I laid on one of the couches in the shirt and shorts that I borrowed from her. Well…not _borrowed_ , because Misuki said I could keep these. Yes, we have **that** close of a friendship.

Anyway, I was laying on the couch in a somewhat depressed mood. The reason why is…well, it should be obvious by now, so I’m not going to bore you with the explanation.

“Hey, Ami. Pizza’s here.” I heard Misuki say to me.

“ _sigh._ Thanks, Misuki.” I sat up from the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza from the table.

“Still sad, huh?”

I didn’t say anything and just shook my head yes.

“You’re really gonna missed Kirby, are you?”

Again, only shook my head yes.

“I feel ya.”

“I just don’t know what to feel, Misuki. I mean, I’m happy that Kirby gets to go back home, but…I just don’t want him to leave. He’s the greatest friend I’ve ever had.”

“ ** _Ahem…_** ”

“Besides you, of course.”

“Apology accepted.”

I giggled a bit from Misuki getting jealous for a little bit.

“There’s the smile I know and love!”

“Alright, you got me! But I’m still sad about Kirby leaving tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’m just really going to miss him, y’know?”

“It sounds like you really love the little pink puffball.”

_L-Love?!_

I started blushing extensively after hearing that wild accusation.

“W-Well…N-N-Not _th-that_ way, but…yeah.”

“ ***giggle*** _I see…_ ”

“Was this your way of getting back at me for earlier?”

“ _Mmm…_ A little.”

“Meanie.”

“Sorry, sorry. But really, Ami. I understand how you feel. When me and Magolor went our separate ways, I felt the same way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It took me a while to get over it, but I eventually did. You know how they say, if you “love” something, set it free.”

“ _Love, huh?_ ”

“Hey! I put it in quotes, so it’s not like that!”

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, yeah. I get it.”

“My point is, as long as you two remember each other, the feeling of loneliness will never show up again. Because the memories of the time you’ve spent together will always remain with you. In your mind, and your heart.”

I nearly cried after hearing those words come out of Misuki’s mouth. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard from her…well, besides that _other_ thing.

“ ***sniff*** Wow, Misuki. That was amazing.”

“What, that? I was just reading this quote I found online from my phone.”

“ **Seriously?!** ”

“What? You know I’m not good with that sentimental crap.”

“ _sigh._ Whatever. It still helped.”

“ _Poyo poyo…_ ”

We both looked over to the other couch in front of us, where Kirby was still asleep from the exciting Puyo battle we had earlier.

“Wow, he really is a heavy sleeper.” Misuki said.

“I know, right? He didn’t wake up when I was poking him the first night we met.”

“Why were you poking him?”

“He’s really squishy.”

“Really?”

“Come on, poke him a little.”

Misuki went over to Kirby and kneeled in front of him. She raised one finger and proceeded to give him one small poke.

“ ** _Teehee._** Hey, you're right, Ami. He is really squishy."

“See, I told you.”

After a few more pokes, Misuki decided to stop poking the little guy and came back to sit next to me.

“Ah geez. That was fun.” She said.

“So what’s this thing that this Magolor guy gave you?”

“Oh, right. Let me get it.”

Misuki got up from the couch and went to her room. After a short while, she came back out holding this huge gem-like thing.

“Woah! What is that thing?” I asked.

“It’s called a Crystal Shard. I got it as a memento. It’s said that it has the power to open a portal to any world in the known universe.”

“W-Woah! That’s in Dream Land?!”

“Well, no. Magolor told me that he got this from a planet called Ripple Star.”

“Woah. I see. So that’s going to send Kirby home?”

“It should. Although I’ve never used it. It kinda has a limited use.”

“Oh wow.”

After we ate some more of the pizza, we watched a movie and went to bed afterward. While trying to sleep, I looked at the sleeping Kirby again and grew a big smile on my face while tears ran down from my eyes.

_Goodbye, Kirby. I’ll miss you._

 

The next day, me, Misuki, and Kirby met up with Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Carbuncle at the park. The three girls wanted to say goodbye to Kirby. Carbuncle was forced to come. He really must not like Kirby. I don’t know why, though.

“So this Crystal Shard thing will _supposedly_ send Kirby back to his homeworld?" Ringo asked. "That sounds illogical."

“You think everything otherworldly is illogical, Ringo.” I said.

“Well, it is when you think about it.”

“This **is** another world we’re talking about.” Raffina added. “It could be normal for them.”

“Yeah, just like how popping a bunch of rainbow jelly blobs all day is normal for us.” Arle said.

“Yeah, true.”

“So how does this thing work, Misuki?” I asked her.

“Still don’t understand how you two became friends.” Arle pouted.

“Just let it go, Arle.” Raffina said to her.

“Anyway…” Misuki began explaining. “ _Supposedly_ , all I need to do is throw this thing and it'll create a portal to whatever world you want to go to. Again, I have no idea if this is true. And it does only have a limited use."

“So we basically have to hope that this works?” Ringo asked.

“Sounds a lot like you whenever you make potions, Witch.” Arle said.

“ **Sh-Shut up!** ” Misuki sounded insulted.

As I watched this plan all unfold, I felt Kirby giving a light tug on my shirt. I looked at him to see that he had a sad look on his face.

“Poyo poyo poyo…”

“I know, Kirby. I’m going to miss you, too.”

“It’s so sad seeing you two part away like this.” Raffina said. “You guys make really good friends.”

“Yeah, but Kirby really needs to go back. And I can’t force him to stay just because of that reason alone.”

“You’re doing a really good thing, Am.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, I agree.” Arle added. “I could never do this type of thing with Carby. Right, buddy?”

We looked around to see that Carbuncle had run off again while we were talking.

“ **GRRRR….** You know what?! I’m not even going to look for him this time! He can come back once he stops being stubborn!”

_Who knows when **that** ever happens…_

After we said our last goodbyes to Kirby, Misuki threw the Crystal Shard a short distance, which then created a star-shaped galaxy-like portal in front of us.

“ _Woah…_ ” We all said.

Then the portal started going all static and eventually showed a short blue guy who looked like he was floating.

“Huh? Hey! Misuki! Long time no see!” The guy said.

“Same to you, Magolor!” Misuki replied.

“Wait, so this is Magolor?” I asked.

“Yep. He and I go way back. Long before I got serious with making potions.”

“I see.”

“ **POYO! POYO! POYO!** ” Kirby began jumping up and down in excitement.

“Kirby?! Is that you?! So this is where you ended up, huh?” Magolor asked.

“ **Wait! Did you say Kirby?!** ”

“ **You found him?!** ”

We suddenly heard two more voices coming from the portal. They belonged to a girl who looked like a painter of some sort and a tiny fairy girl. There was also a light-brown pudgy little guy who, other than the blue bandana on his head and the fact he had no mouth, looked almost like Kirby.

“Hiiiii!” Kirby said.

“ **KIRBY! YOU’RE ALIVE!** ” Both girls cheered.

“Will you two get out the way?!” Magolor shouted as he pushed the two away.

“Yeah, I was the one who found him. He crash-landed near my house and has been staying there ever since.” I said.

“Well, thank you for that. We really appreciate that you took care of Kirby while he was there.”

“How did he get here, anyway?” Arle asked.

“Well…we were hosting an Air Ride race and things got a little…chaotic.”

“Yeah, and it was his fault too.” The painter girl came back on screen.

“ **I said I was sorry!** ”

“Yep. That **definitely** sounds illogical.” Ringo said.

“Shut up, Ringo!” Raffina said while nudging her in the arm.

I then turned to Kirby while trying to hold in my tears once again.

“Well, Kirby. It was nice being with you these past few days.”

“Poyo poyo.”

“We had so much fun, right? Eating food together, making everyone believe that I talk to my backpack. Although maybe that one was more fun to you than me.”

“Poyo…”

“And let’s not forget the match we had yesterday! It’s was so much fun popping puyos with you! Probably the most fun I’ve had playing Puyo!”

“Poyo!”

“Wait, did you say _puyos_?” Magolor asked.

“Yeah. In this world, we play a game called Puyo Puyo, where we connect four 4 puyos together and make them pop.”

"I see. Now, these _puyos_ …they wouldn’t happen to be these red, blue, green, yellow, and purple blobs would they?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

“Magolor, how do you know about them?” Misuki asked.

“Well, soon after Kirby disappeared, a whole bunch of them started falling out of the sky. We can’t get rid of them.”

“ **WHAT?!?** ” We all shouted in shock.

“ **POYO! POYO!** ”

“We can really use you right now, Kirby. I’ll transport you back to Dream Land right away.”

“Poyo!”

“Wait, Kirby! I’m coming with you!” I said.

“ **WAIT, WHAT?!** ” The other girls shouted.

“Ami, are you crazy?!” Raffina asked.

“Maybe I am! But Kirby’s world is littered with puyos! There’s no way he and his friends can get rid of them on their own! I have to help him!”

The girls looked uncertain. They stayed silent for a short while until…

“Well then if that’s how it is, then I’m going with you, Amitie!” Arle said.

“Me too, Ami! Count me in!” Raffina added.

“Wh-What?! You guys serious?!” Ringo asked.

“Come on, Ringo!” I said. “We need all the help we can get! Please? Do it for Kirby.”

Ringo starred at Kirby with uncertainness, while Kirby starred at her with the same cute face he always has.

“…”

“ ** _GAH!_** I can’t say no to that cute face! Fine, I’ll come too.” Ringo admitted defeat.

“Poyo poyo!”

“Kirby said thanks to all of us and said we’re true heroes.” I translated.

“As much as I would love to help, I have to stay here. Someone has to make sure you four get back safely.” Misuki said.

“Thanks, Misuki.” I said to her.

“Wonderful! The more help, the better!” Magolor said. “I’ll transport you all here in no time flat.”

The transmission from the portal disappeared and it showed the galaxy-likeness again.

“Ready, everybody?” I asked.

“Ready, Amitie!” The girls cheered.

“Poyo poyo!” Kirby cheered.

“Alrighty! Let’s go!”

“Good luck, you guys!” Misuki said.

We each then jumped into the star-shaped portal as Misuki waved us goodbye. Once we were all inside, the portal shrunk to the point it was just a crystal again.

I was so excited! Now only do I get to spend more time with Kirby, but I also get to see his homeworld! There's no way I’ll **EVER** forget this moment!

_Watch me now, new world! Here I come!_

 


	8. Return to Dream Land

Inside the portal was actually really pretty. There were tons of tiny stars flowing around us. It was like we were flying through the galaxy or something. It was so thrilling!

“ **Hey, guys! There’s a light up ahead!** ” Arle shouted not too long after we jumped inside.

“ **It must be the entrance to Dream Land!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **I can’t believe we’re actually going to a completely new world!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **I know! So exciting!** ” I shouted.

It was really loud in there, so that’s why we were shouting.

After a few more seconds of traveling through the portal, we reached the bright light at the end and the next thing we knew…we were high above the clouds…

…like, **really** high.

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!** ”

We all screamed as we fell what felt like endlessly through the clouds. You would think that they would stop us from falling, but they didn’t.

“ **H-Hey! K-Kirby! W-Why did your friend spawn us all the way up here?!** ” I asked frantically. When I didn’t hear an answer, I looked around to see that Kirby was nowhere to be found.

“ **H-Huh?! K-Kirby?! Wh-Where’d you go, buddy?!** ”

“ **U-Uh, Amitie!** ” Ringo shouted my name. “ **I know you’re worried about Kirby right now, but there’s an entirely new world that’s seeing something I don’t want them to see!** ”

I looked over to see Ringo holding her skirt down with both hands. Arle and Raffina were doing the exact same thing, and they were all blushing with embarrassment.

“ ** _Ohhh…_** ” I said after realizing what she was talking about. Then I started giggling.

“ **SHUT UP!!!** ” They all shouted.

“ **Sorry, sorry!** ” I replied.

As we continued falling, I kept looking for Kirby. He was really nowhere near us. I thought we were all goners, eventually about to meet our demise in a different world. Until…

**_*CLINK*_ **

**_*CLINK*_**  

  ** _*CLINK*_**  

 ** _*CLINK*_**  

“ **H-Huh?!** ” I felt like I was holding something really soft. The shape felt like some kind of star. I eventually gained the courage to open my eyes to see someone I was glad to see.

“ **KIRBY!!!** ”

“ **Hiiii!!!** ”

The other girls opened their eyes to see that they too, were on the soft, star-shaped flying thing piloted by Kirby.

“ **Kirby!** ” Arle shouted.

“ **It really is you!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **Thanks for saving us!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **Poyo poyo!** ”

“So what is this thing, Kirby?” I asked.

“Poyo poyo.”

“A Warpstar? You use this to travel everywhere?”

“Poyo!”

“So that means we’re in…”

“Poyo!”

After a few more seconds of flying, we made it out the clouds and we saw it…

…The entirely new world, known as Dream Land.

“ **Woah!** ” We all shouted in amassment.

It was a sight to behold. Tons of flowers and grass everywhere, huge mountains in the back, beaches and waterfall surrounded by rainbows, we could even see snow from way in the back. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!

“So this is Dream Land…” Ringo said.

“It’s so pretty…” Raffina said.

“It’s a whole new world to explore! I really wish Carby was here!” Arle said.

“Kirby…your world is amazing!” I said.

“Poyo!”

We eventually landed on the ground and the Warpstar flew off on its own. Where it went, I couldn’t tell ya.

“That was amazing, Kirby! I never would’ve thought that you rode a star everywhere!”

“Poyo!”

“Hey, Kirby! These must be your friends from the other world, right?”

We heard a new voice and we turned to see Magolor, the blue guy from before, floating next to what looked like a… floating sailboat?

“Poyo poyo!”

“Wonderful! Please come in everyone. I can explain everything inside in full detail.”

“Uh, okay, sure.” I said.

We then all walked inside the floating sailboat, unaware of all the madness we volunteered ourselves into.

 

**Spaceship of the Ancients - Lor Starcutter**

 

“Woah! This ship is huge!” I said as we looked around the inside of the giant sailboat.

“It’s all futuristic and stuff…I could get used to this!” Ringo said excitedly.

“This is my ship, the Lor Starcutter. It’s an intergalactic spaceship that can travel through dimensions. It’s even rumored to have a mind of its own.” Magolor explained.

“Woah! A mind of its own?! This world’s more advanced  than ours by a long shot!”

“Way to dis our world, Ringo.” Raffina said.

“W-Well, y-you know what I mean. I’m not dissing it or anything.”

“If you say so, Ringo.” Arle said.

We reached the end of the pathway to a bunch of small screens surrounding a more bigger screen. Beneath all that was a really big keyboard with a bunch of glowing keys.

While approaching the what I’m assuming is a computer, we saw the painter girl, fairy girl, and bandana-wearing pudgy guy from before.

_Could they be Kirby’s other friends?_

“Hey, everyone. Look who’s back.” Magolor said.

“Hiiii!”

“ **Kirby!** ” The painter and fairy girls cheered.

_I guess they really are his friends._

“Geez, we thought you’ll never come back! I mean, you always do…somehow, but this time I had my doubts.” The painter said.

“You really scared me back there, Kirby! I thought you were a goner!” The fairy whined. She looked like she was about to cry, too.

“Poyo poyo.” Kirby sounded apologetic.

“Thank you girls again for bringing our friend back. We really owe you one.” The painter girl said.

“Ah, it was nothing. I figured he had to get back sooner or later. I’m just glad we were able to help. My name’s Amitie, by the way.”

“I’m Arle. Nice to meet ya.”

“My name’s Ringo.”

“I’m Raffina. I’m one of Ami’s classmates.”

“Nice to meet you all. My name’s Adeleine. I’m a painter, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“M-My…n-name’s…R-Ribbon. I-It’s a pleasure…t-to meet you all.” The fairy girl stuttered.

“Eh, sorry about that. Ribbon’s a bit shy when It comes to meeting new people.”

“It’s okay. She actually reminds me of my friend Lidelle in a way.”

Then the pudgy Kirby look-a-like walked up to us and Kirby gave him a high…five? I haven’t bothered to notice before, but Kirby doesn’t have any fingers.

“This guy right here is Bandana Waddle-Dee, but everybody calls him Bandana-Dee for sort. He doesn’t talk much, or like, at all. So he uses this dry-erase board to communicate.”

Bandana-Dee wrote something on his board to demonstrate.

“ _Hello there, Amitie, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina. It’s nice to meet you all._ ”

“I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you all.” I said cheerfully.

“Hey, Adeleine. I’ve been wondering. How did Kirby get sent to our world in the first place?” Ringo asked.

“Ah, well…”

As Adeleine was about to answer, a star-shaped portal, much like the one we used to get here, opened up to the right of us and soon after a white monster-looking thing came out of it.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!** ” The four of us screamed in terror.

“Geez, Magolor. You’re still keeping this thing?” Ribbon asked.

“What? He’s really useful at a time like this, right Doomie?” Magolor said to the monster.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Uh…Doomie?” Arle asked.

“I’ll explain.” Adeleine said. “That creature right there is called a Sphere Doomer. They have the power to create portals to other dimensions. They can be rather ravaging, but for some reason, this one…is Magolor’s pet.”

“Wait, it can create portals to other dimensions?” Raffina asked. “So that means…”

“Exactly. It was this thing that caused Kirby to end up in your world.”

“Poyo…”

“Why keep such a thing when it could do something so dangerous as that?” I asked.

“Well, unlike Adeleine, I believe that can be tamed.” Magolor answered. “I’m making good progress so far, right my little Doomie?”

 “ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

_That thing doesn’t look like it could be tamed._

We suddenly heard an alarm of some sorts coming from the computer and Magolor went over to check out what was happening.

“Oh. It’s the others.” He said.

“Others?”

“Our other friends. When those rainbow jellies started falling from the sky, they went off to try to get rid of them. So far, they haven’t had such luck.” Adeleine explained.

“Oh, I see.”

The screen came on to show four more people on split-screen view.

On the top left was some kind of weird-looking spider creature with a brown head topped with two yellow-tipped spikes, as well as gray, curly hair and wearing a red scarf and a dark green cape with a spider-web design. He also seemed to have two orange eyes above his already white ones.

On the top right was a woman who wore a very professional business suit, with a white shirt and grey pants. She was also wearing a white space helmet on her long pink hair. Much like Bandana-Dee, she had no mouth. Is that a common thing here?

On the bottom right was someone who looked almost like a dark version of Kirby. He had a grey mask covering his whole face except for his yellow eyes. He also had a dark-blue cape covering up his body, so I can’t make up any more details about him.

And on the bottom right was a mouse that wore a red cape and a red top hat that he held over his eyes. Looks kinda sinister.

“Everyone. How’s progress coming along?” Magolor asked the group of four.

“Not good. Not good at all.” The spider creature said.

“These jelly blobs just keep on coming.” The woman said.

“Not only that, but they seem to have some kind of strange power that lets them possess people.” The dark Kirby explained.

“It’s a huge mess, really.” The mouse added.

“Oh, dear. This _is_ bad.”

“Poyo…”

“Huh? Kirby? When did you get back?” The woman asked.

“He came back just recently.” Adeleine answered. “These girls over here brought him back from their world.”

“A different world, huh? Sounds like something that would happen to Kirby.” The spider creature replied.

“And what’s more is that these girls know what these jelly blobs are and know how to get rid of them.” Magolor added.

“Really now? Please, do tell.” The mouse said.

I was a little nervous at first, but then soon after gained the courage to explain everything.

“Well, these jelly blobs are called _puyos_ and they came from our world. They come in five colors: red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. And the only way to clear them is to connect four or more of the same to make them go pop.”

“In our world, we’ve made this into a game called Puyo Puyo.” Arle added.

“Puyo Puyo?” Everyone asked in a confused state.

“That sounds really hard.” Ribbon said.

“We can assure you that it’s very easy to learn.” Ringo said.

“And it’s fun, too.” Raffina added. “Even Kirby learned how to play.”

“Really, Kirby?” Adeleine asked him.

“Poyo!”

“We can show you all how to play as well.” Ringo said.

“You mean you plan on helping us?” The dark Kirby asked.

“Of course! Kirby’s our friend! And if his friends need help then we’re willing to give it!” Arle said elatedly.

“Thank you, girls. We’ll be sure to take full advantage of your help.” The woman said with a bow.

“Yes, we shall. As these puyos are scattered all over Dream Land.” Magolor added.

“Geez, all over? That sounds like a lot of ground to cover.” Raffina said.

“Don’t worry, Raffina! We got Kirby on our side! He’ll help us, right little buddy?” I asked him.

“Poyo poyo!”

“I’ll tag along, too!” Adeleine said. “I want to learn how to play this game of yours.”

“Me too. It sounds kinda fun.” Ribbon added.

“You coming too, Dee?”

Bandana-Dee gave a quick nod meaning that he’ll come along as well.

“That’s great, you guys!” I shouted in glee. “So where’s the best place to start?”

“There’s a nice area close by that’s the perfect place to practice.”

“Alrighty! Lead the way, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

Within minutes, our group of four became a group of eight. With Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Bandana-Dee on our side, Me and Kirby set off to explore the world of Dream Land and save it from a Puyo Puyo invasion!

I can’t wait to see what’s waiting for us out there!


	9. Puyo Dream Training

 

**Endless Meadows - Green Greens**

 

Not too long after we left the Lor Starcutter, we reached the nearest area from said starship. The area was pretty. Tons of green grass and green trees everywhere. It could really relax you if you’re feeling stressed over something.

And oddly fitting enough, Adeleine told us that this place is called Green Greens. I think it’s kinda funny.

“Wow, this place is so wide and open.” Arle said.

“Not really. Green Greens is one of the smaller areas here.” Adeleine said.

“You mean there are places bigger than this?” Raffina asked.

“ **WAY** bigger.”

“Some are so big, we have to use Kirby’s Warpstar to get across.” Ribbon added.

“Wow. Dream Land’s **WAY** bigger than I originally thought it was.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, no kidding.” I agreed. “But I don’t really mind. I still plan to see all of it! You’ll help, right Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“Err…all of it’s a bit of a stretch, Amitie.” Adeleine said.

After we looked around some more, the four of us visitors got to work. We had to teach Adeleine, Ribbon, and Bandana-Dee how to play Puyo Puyo so they can help rid their world of puyos. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? Kirby knows how to play.

“So this game of yours is called…Poyo Poyo?” Ribbon asked.

“No, Puyo Puyo. I know they sound similar, but it’s Puyo Puyo.” I explained.

“Oh, I think I’m starting to get it now.”

“So how do you play?” Adeleine asked.

“It’s very simple.” Arle said. “You just connect four puyos of the same color and they pop on their own.”

“That’s it? They just pop? Just like that?”

“It’s not pointless, if that’s what you’re thinking. Because when puyos pop, they give you enough power to cast really powerful spells.” Ringo explained.

“They give you power?” Adeleine asked.

“To cast powerful spells?” Ribbon asked.

“Yep. We’re all powerful magic users.”

“ **Ringo!** ” Me and Arle shouted at her.

“What?” Ringo was confused at first, but when we told her to look next to her, she understood what the problem was.

“O-Oh. R-Right. S-Sorry, Raffina.”

“No, it’s okay.” Raffina was sulking on the ground, moving her finger around a nearby flower. “I’ve gotten used to it by now.”

_No she didn’t._

“What’s wrong with Raffina?” Ribbon asked.

“Well, you see…back in our world, Raffina’s the only person in our class who can’t use magic. She uses physical attacks when playing Puyo. But she’s still sensitive about the whole thing.” I explained.

“I see.”

“Don’t worry, Ami. I’ve told you, I’m ***sniff*** used to it.” Raffina was trying to hold in tears at this point.

“Raffina…”

As we were trying to make Raffina feel better, we could hear Bandana-Dee writing something on his dry-erase board. When he was finished, he walked over to Raffina and showed her what he wrote.

“ _It’s okay, Raffina. I know how you feel. Us Waddle-Dees are known to be the weaker species. Which is why I carry this spear._ ”

“ ***sniff*** R-Really?” Raffina asked.

“Oh yeah, that is true.” Adeleine said. “Waddle-Dees tend to carry weapons with them due to them being weak. Some even use machinery.”

“Woah. That’s pretty cool.” Arle said.

“You should see what they could do with a parasol.”

“A parasol?” Us four asked.

“Most Waddle-Dees have one. They like to float with them.” Ribbon explained.

“Although Dee’s the only one with a spear.” Adeleine added.

“Wow!” I said. “This is great, Raffina! You and Bandana-Dee have something in common!”

“Y-Yeah…yeah, I guess we do.” Raffina said after standing back up. “Thanks for cheering me up, Bandana-Dee.”

Bandana-Dee gave a quick nod, which I guess means “you’re welcome, Raffina.” In his mind.

“So what kind of powers do these puyos give?” Adeleine asked.

“Well, it honestly depends on what you can do.” Arle said. “You and Ribbon have powers, right?”

“Well…yeah. But we’re not exactly powerful.”

“What do mean by that?” Ringo asked.

“Well, I can just show you.”

Then all of a sudden, an easel appeared next to Adeleine and she began painting what looked like an apple on it. When she finished, she stepped away from it and then…

***POP***

“ **Wh-What the?! Th-The apple became real!** ” We all shouted when we saw the apple just fall out of the painting.

“Poyo!” Kirby ran up to the apple and ate it in one bite.

“Yeah, that’s my power. I can paint anything and they suddenly become real. It’s proven to be useful at times, like when Kirby’s hungry.”

“Woah! That’s a really cool power, Adeleine!” I said, blown out of my mind.

“Thanks, Amitie.”

“What about you, Ribbon?” Raffina asked.

“Well…I just use these things called Crystal Shards to power me up. I’m like a guardian of these, making sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“Crystal Shards? Hey, my friend Misuki has one of those.” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. She said Magolor gave it to her.”

“That explains why I’m missing one.” Ribbon sounded like she was sad and annoyed at the same time.

“Um…sorry, Ribbon. I could tell Misuki to give it back when we leave.”

“No, it’s okay. As long as she’s responsible with it, it should be safe.”

“Okay, then.”

Just as we finished talking, a bunch of puyos swarmed us and nearly had us surrounded.

“Hey, this is perfect timing!” I cheered. “Now it’ll be easier to teach you guys how to play!”

I then grabbed a set of Puyo and threw it across from me, making them land on the ground nearby.

“What you do is stack these on top of each other. And if 4 of the same color connect, they pop and give you enough power to attack.”

I then grabbed a few more and flung them in the same spot. With those, I was able to create a 3-chain and gained enough power to cast my level 1 spell.

“ **FLAME!** ”

A bunch of fireballs spawned from my finger and they cleared a small bunch of puyos in front of us.

“W-Woah…” I could hear Adeleine and Ribbon say.

“Eventually, you’ll start building these things called chains.” Arle said.

“The more Puyo you use, the greater the chain.” Ringo said.

“And the greater the chain, the more you gain for even stronger attacks.” Raffina said.

“Poyo!”

Kirby grabbed some puyos and flung them a short distance in front of him. Not only did he had enough for a 3-chain, but he got an All-Clear too.

“ **FIRE BREATH!** ”

The same voice from before came up and Kirby was wearing the same fire hat from the last battle we had. This time, he spat fire across the ground, clearing some Puyo in the process.

“Nice one, Kirby! You even got an All-Clear!” I cheered.

“Poyo poyo!”

“Okay. I think I’m starting to get it now.” Adeleine said. “Let me try.”

She then grabbed a few puyos and flung them a short distance from her, creating a simple 3-chain. Her paintbrush began to glow as she started twirling it around like a wand.

“ **BRUSH SLASH!** ”

A torrent of paint then came from her brush and it splatted all over the nearby puyos, surprisingly clearing them all.

“Woah! A paint attack!” Arle said.

“D-Did I do that?” Adeleine was shocked at what just happened.

“Yep. Exciting, isn’t it? All that power rushing through your body.”

“Yeah. It was, actually.”

“Come on, Ribbon. Give it a try.” Ringo said to her.

“Um…okay.”

Ribbon then grabbed a set of Puyo and flung them over. Due to her size, it took her a while to build a good enough chain. But once she did, the Crystal Shards she was talking about started circling around her as she started glowing.

“ **ROCK STAR!** ”

A small group of the Crystal Shards then flew off from Ribbon and exploded onto the puyos, clearing a mid-sized group of them.

“Woah! Exploding crystals!” Ringo said.

“Th-That was me?!” Ribbon sounded a little scared.

“Sure was. And the more you pop in a row, the more power you gain.”

“I see. This is kinda fun.”

“Ready to try it yourself, Bandana-Dee?” Raffina asked him.

Bandana-Dee gave a slight nod of readiness, then started flinging and stacking puyos. Once his 3-chain was set off, his spear started to glow. He then di one big jab at the remaining group of puyos, clearing them all.

“Wow! Nice jab!”

Bandana-Dee once again did a slight nod, thanking Raffina for the compliment.

“So do you guys understand fully?” I asked.

“It seems simple enough.” Adeleine said.

Just then, we heard some kind of ringing sound. Turns out, it was Kirby, who pulled out a pink cell phone with a star on it and answered it.

_Wait, he has a phone?!_

“Poyo?”

“ _Hey, Kirby!_ ” It sounded like Magolor was on the other line. “ _Whatever you guys did just now really worked! Green Greens has been fully cleared of puyos!_ ”

“ **No way! It actually worked?!** ” Adeleine asked, sounding shocked.

“ _I know! I had my doubts too! This game of theirs seems to be doing the trick!_ ”

“So we just keep doing this and Dream Land will be fully cleared of puyos?” Ribbon asked.

“ _Sounds like it to me._ ”

“Hey, Magolor. Just how far did the puyos cover Dream Land?” I asked.

“ _Hmm…Not sure. If I had to guess, they probably went all the way to the Fountain of Dreams._ ”

“The Fountain of Dreams?” Us four visitors asked.

“It’s a fountain that lets the people of Dream Land have dreams when they sleep. It’s a huge power source.” Adeleine explained.

“I see.” Ringo said. “So if the puyos overrun the Fountain of Dreams…”

“Right. The people of Dream Land may never have dreams again.”

“That sounds horrible!” Arle said.

“Poyo…” Kirby sounded worried.

“Not to worry, Kirby!” I cheered. “There’s no way I’m going to let my friends never dream again! We’ll clear those puyos together!”

“Poyo!”

“Thanks again for helping us with this, you guys.” Ribbon said.

“No problem at all, Ribbon. We’re glad to help.” Raffina said.

“So, what’s the next area that needs clearing?” I asked.

“Well, there a place called Vegetable Valley that’s nearby.”

“ **Yuck!** Vegetable Valley? That place sounds gross!” Arle whined.

“It’s not what you think it is, Arle.” Adeleine said.

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain when we get there.”

“Great! Let’s go!” I shouted.

“Poyo!”

“ _Good luck everyone!_ ” Magolor said before hanging up.

The eight of us then headed off to the next area. To clear it, and the rest of Dream Land of puyos. Before everyone here starts losing the ability to dream.

_That alone sounds like a nightmare!_

  


	10. A Derpy Puyo

  **Mountainous Waterfall -** **Vegetable Valley**

 

Not too long after we cleared the puyos in Green Greens, we reached the area next to it, named Vegetable Valley. And to Arle’s surprise, it looked nothing like how she imagined it.

Vegetable Valley was more so a mountainous light forest area with tons of waterfalls coming from the mountains. There were also a few trees surrounding us, but they were so spread out that they didn’t block our view of the sun.

“It’s so weird. This place is called Vegetable Valley, yet there’s no vegetable in sight.” Arle said as we were looking around the place.

“Yeah, about that.” Adeleine said. “For some reason, most of the areas here are named after food.”

“Why food of all things?” Ringo asked.

“No one really knows. But in the end, nobody seems bothered by it.”

“I see.”

“Well, I’m just glad there aren’t any vegetables here. **They’re so gross!** ” Arle shouted.

“Poyo?”

“Yeah, how could you not like vegetables, Arle? They're supposed to be good for you.” Ribbon said.

“I just never got used to the taste. Plus there were people who kept saying that _they’re good for you_ and _help you grow bigger._ ”

“But they are…”

“And they do…”

Adeleine and Ribbon were having a sweat drop moment.

“Yeah, sure. Just like all the other _manners_ stuff.”

“Uh…” Was all the two could say at that point.

“Yeah, sorry about Arle. She’s not exactly a normal girl.” I said.

“She thinks manners are irrelevant and does what she wants.” Ringo added.

“So…in other words…” Adeleine said.

“Yep.” Me, Ringo, and Raffina said. “She’s a tomboy.”

“ **I’m not a tomboy!** ” Arle shouted. “I just don’t like how girls are forced to do all these girly things like having good manners or eating right or how I have to stay clean. **They’re so unreasonable!** ”

“Arle…that’s the definition of a tomboy.” Ribbon said.

“ **But I’m not a tomboy!** ”

“But you just describe one by listing your dislikes.” Raffina said.

“ **GAH! Can we just drop this already?! I'd rather be popping puyos than to talk gossip about myself!** ”

“Fine. Whatever you say, Arle.” I said.

“Thank you.” Arle said as she continued walking and we followed right behind her.

_What a tomboy._

 

A little while after entering Vegetable Valley (and calling Arle a tomboy), we encountered a small number of puyos. It didn’t take us long to get rid of them, except for a few blue ones. But for some reason, one of them was bigger than the rest.

And it appeared to be…sleeping?

_Kind of an odd time to be sleeping._

“Hey, guys. This Puyo looks…kinda weird.” I said.

“You sure it’s a Puyo, Amitie?” Arle asked me. “It looks…kinda derpy.”

“A derpy Puyo?” Adeleine asked as she and the others walked up to us. Just as she did, another blue Puyo fell from the sky. And it actually hit the derpy Puyo in the head, waking it up.

“Oh! Hey, Gooey! It’s only you!” Adeleine said.

“Hi!” Kirby said.

“Gooey?” Raffina asked.

“He’s a friend of ours. He and Kirby actually saved Dream Land once.”

“Really? With what?” Ringo asked.

Just then a blue Puyo came by and hoped around like it was about to attack. I was about to counter it when Gooey wrapped his tongue around it…and ate it. Whole.

Me, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina were clearly creeped out.

“Well, for starters…his tongue.” Adeleine said.

“It’s believed that Gooey has an endless appetite just like Kirby.” Ribbon added.

Bandana-Dee then wrote something on his board.

“ _It’s also believed that he’s a failed clone of an evil entity called Dark Matter, who tried to take over the entire planet a couple times._ ”

“Wow. That’s amazing. And somewhat scary.” I said.

Gooey then scratched the top of his head with his tongue, which I have to admit, is pretty impressive.

“So is Gooey able to talk?” I asked.

“Well…no. In fact, we just guess what he’s saying by using his tongue. Which doesn’t always work out.” Adeleine said.

“Huh.”

I then thought to myself if there was any way we could understand him. One idea came to mind, but I don’t think the others would like it.

_Well, I don’t have any other ideas. So sorry, guys._

“Hey, Gooey. You think you can put this hat on real quick?”

“A-Ami! Y-You can’t be serious!” Raffina started panicking.

“Y-You’re really going to do that **AGAIN?!** ” Ringo asked.

“Sorry, guys. But I can’t think of anything else. Just keep an eye on me, okay?”

“…I-If you say so, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Adeleine asked.

“Y-You’ll see…”

Gooey looked just as confused as the others, but it looked like he understands what we’re saying at least.

“Just trust me. It’ll be very helpful.” I said.

Gooey then took my hat from my hands with his tongue and placed it on his head. After a short while, I started feeling dizzy and I fell to the ground.

“ **AMITIE!!!** ” Was all I heard before I passed out.

When I came to again, I felt…shorter than normal. And really squishy. That’s when I realized I was in Gooey’s body.

_Okay, this power is proving to be extremely useful. But still, there is the possibility of **THAT** happening again if I don’t hurry up and do this._

I quickly gathered some energy from Gooey, then used his tongue to place my hat back on my head. Within seconds, I was back in my body, which was being held up by Raffina and Kirby.

“Thanks, you guys.”

“Poyo!”

“You know I really hate it when you do that, Ami.”

“Amitie, you okay?!” Adeleine asked frantically.

“You had us worried! I thought you died or something!” Ribbon sounded like she was about to cry.

“Oh, right. Sorry for making you guys worry. What just happened is kind of a special power of mine. You see, my true body is my hat. And it lets me control this body and any others who wear me.”

“W-Wow! That’s insane!” Ribbon said.

“Yeah, we know.” Arle said. “The first time this happened, Amitie’s human body went on a semi-rampage. And it did some really evil things.”

“O-Oh wow…” Adeleine said.

“You can see why we don’t like it.” Ringo added.

“Sorry for making you guys worry.”

“It’s okay, Amitie. As long as we know what’s happening. And besides, we’ve seen more disturbing stuff.” Adeleine said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. So much, that it’s actually starting to become normal.”

“Wow, that’s…horrible.”

“Not for Kirby, apparently.”

“Poyo Poyo!”

“I see. You really are a star warrior, aren’t you buddy?”

“Poyo!”

I giggled a bit at Kirby’s response.

“So what did you do with that trick exactly?” Ribbon asked.

“Oh, right. Once I got inside Gooey’s body, I took some of his energy and brought it back with me. So, in a way, I can understand what he says.”

“Huh?! It works just like that?!”

“Yeah! It’s how I’m able to understand Kirby.”

“Poyo.”

“Huh. That’s interesting.” Adeleine said. “So what are you doing all the way out here, Gooey?”

Gooey waved his tongue around, using that as his way of communicating with me.

“He said that he was here trying to sleep when a bunch of jelly blobs ambushed him.” I translated.

“Jelly blobs? Oh right, puyos!” Arle said.

Gooey then waved his tongue more.

“He said he got most rid of most of them with his powers, but got tired again and fell asleep. And that’s when we showed up.”

“I see. Well, thanks for the help, Gooey.” Adeleine said.

Gooey looked confused when Adeleine said that.

“Well you see, my name’s Amitie. And these are my friends Arle, Ringo, and Raffina.”

“Nice to meet you, Gooey.” All three girls said. Gooey waved his tongue, meaning “hello”.

“What happened was that Kirby ended up in our world for a bit. And when we were about to send him back here, we found out that a bunch of puyos, the jelly blobs you fought earlier, have infested Dream Land. So we came to help get rid of them.”

Gooey looked like he understood now. Then he formed his tongue to make a fist, which again…was impressive.

“Wait, seriously?! You really want to?!”

Gooey jumped up once, confirming his answer.

“What did he say, Amitie?” Ringo asked.

“Gooey says he wants to help us!”

“Really? Well, we appreciate the help, Gooey!” Arle said.

Gooey twirled around with his tongue sticking out, excited to join us on our adventure.

“Alright then! Let’s go, everyone!” I cheered.

“Poyo poyo!” Kirby cheered with me.

With our now group of nine, we headed out to the next area to clear it of puyos. I’m just as eager of doing that as meeting all the residents of Dream Land!

 _I just hope they’re all friendly!_     


	11. That Stubborn Tree!

**Woods of Wisdom - Coo’s Forest**

 

At some point in time, we got deeper inside the forest. There were so many trees that we couldn’t see the sun anymore. It kinda looked like it was nighttime already, with how some parts of the forest were glowing from nowhere. The whole atmosphere really gave me the creeps.

“Poyo?” Kirby tapped my arm.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m okay, Kirby. It’s just kinda creepy in here.”

“Y-Yeah. Wh-What A-Amitie j-just s-said.” Ringo stuttered. She looked terrified and was shivering with fear as she was hiding behind Arle.

“Hey, Adeleine. Where are we exactly?” I asked.

“We’re in Coo’s Forest, a very dense forest covered with nothing but trees.”

“Coo’s Forest? So somebody owns this forest?”

“Yeah, our friend Coo. He’s an owl that lives here.”

“An owl, huh? That makes sense.” Raffina said.

“Right? Totally makes sense that an owl would own an entire forest.” Arle said.

“Y-Yeah. A-A c-creepy one.” Ringo stuttered.

“Oh, will you grow up, Ringo? You’re acting like a 5-year-old.”

“B-But this place is scary!”

“Y-Yeah. Really scary!” I didn’t notice it before, but Ribbon was hiding behind Ringo. Acting just as terrified.

“Ribbon, you’ve faced **WAY** more scary things than this forest.” Adeleine said.

“I know, but this place still scares me!”

Adeleine sighed in annoyance, probably giving up on the whole thing.

As we continued walking, we heard flapping noises coming from above. We looked up to see a purple owl flying above us heading in the opposite direction from us. It looked like it was in a hurry or something.

“Hey, Coo!” Adeleine yelled out to it.

“Poyo!” Kirby did the same.

“Hm? Ah! If it isn’t Kirby and friends. And some visitors as well.”

_Wow. The owl can talk. Neat-o!_

“These girls are from a different world. They came to help us with the jelly blob problem.”

“Really now? Such great news.”

“Guys, this is Coo the Owl. The one I told you about earlier.”

“I see.” I said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Coo. My name’s Amitie.”

“I’m Raffina, Ami’s friend and classmate.”

“I’m Arle. And the scared girl behind me is Ringo.”

“H-Hi th-there.” Ringo stuttered.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m actually glad I ran into your little party.”

“Really? How so?” Raffina asked.

“Well you see, ever since those jelly blobs started falling, the forest guardian, Whispy Woods, has been going on a rampage.”

“ _Ugh._ Whispy, again?” Adeleine complained.

“Yes, but this time he seems a bit off, now having glowing green eyes and a green aura around him. And I feel that those jelly blobs are to blame.”

“Glowing green eyes? Green aura? Could a Puyo really be the cause of that?” I asked.

“Didn’t one of Kirby’s friends say people have been possessed by a strange power?” Raffina asked.

“I remember.” Arle said. “But I don’t ever recall puyos possessing people. It’s so unlike them.”

“W-Well, if they are possessing this Whispy Woods guy, then I don’t want to go near him!” Ringo shouted.

“ **What?! Come on, Ringo!** ” I yelled.

“ **It’s nine of us against one guy!** ” Arle yelled.

“ **Stop being a chicken for once!** ” Raffina yelled.

“B-But…”

“Uh, guys. I should tell you…Whispy’s a tree.”

“ **A TREE?!** ” The four of us shouted.

…

…

…

“Well, then that just makes you look pathetic, Ringo.” I said.

“ **Sh-Shut up! I am NOT pathetic! I can take on a tree and beat it with my eyes closed!** ”

“Can you really?” Arle asked.

“ **I. AM. POSITIVE!!!** ”

“Alright. Is everyone else in?” I asked.

“I’m in, Ami!” Raffina cheered.

“Me too!” Arle cheered.

“No objections here. Right, Ribbon?” Adeleine asked her.

“W-Well…if it’s just Whispy, then I shouldn’t that scared.” She replied.

Bandana-Dee and Gooey each gave their own little signal that they’re ready to go.

“Ready, little buddy?” I said to Kirby, who was next to me.”

“Poyo!”

“Alrighty then. Hey Coo, can you take us to where Whispy is?”

“Of course. He’s right this way. Follow me.”

Coo flew off ahead and we followed right behind him to face off against The Guardian of the Forest, Whispy Woods.

 

As we made our way there, the atmosphere around us got more ominous and creepy. The green aura Coo was talking about was getting brighter as we got closer to where Whispy was supposed to be. Eventually, we reached the end of the path. And were standing in front of a huge tree. Supposedly, the Guardian of the Forest.

“Well, here he is. This is Whispy Woods.” Coo said.

Then all of a sudden, the tree shook on its own a little and then a face appeared on the front of it. With the same glowing green eyes Coo mentioned earlier.

“W-Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said he had glowing green eyes and a green aura around him.” Adeleine said.

“He actually looks more threating than usual.” Ribbon added.

“Poyo…”

“W-Well, that’s good to know. I-I’m just gonna go hide behind that other tree over there. S-See ya.” Ringo said as she tried to run away, but Arle grabbed her by her shirt and held on to it tight.

“I thought you said you said you could take on a tree and beat it with your eyes closed, Ringo.” Arle said.

“Yeah, **_A_** tree! I didn’t say **_THIS_** tree! This thing looks like it wants to kill us!”

“It’s probably whatever’s controlling him.” I said as I turned to face the tree.

“Uh, hey. Excuse me, M-Mr. Whispy, uh sir. We would like to know why you’re causing trouble in the forest, and if you could stop.”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ” The tree did a roar so powerful that it almost blew my hat away.

“Figured it wouldn’t be that easy.”

“So what do we do, Ami?” Raffina asked.

“Well, Raffina…the only thing we can do.”

“You mean…”

“Oh, I mean.”

Raffina gave me an eager smile and I did the same. I then looked at the others and they were eager as well…expect Ringo, of course. But she knew she didn’t have a choice, so she went along with it. I then faced Whispy once again with Raffina on my left side and Kirby on my right.

“Alright, Whispy! If want to do this the hard way, then so be it! Let’s…”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ” We all shouted, ready to fight against the Guardian of the Forest.

 

**BOSS: Vs. Whispy Woods**

 

Not long after, multitudes of puyos fell down. Enough for all of us to set off a 4-chain. We each started gathering Puyo and flinging them onto our own tower. But as we were doing so, however, Whispy started shanking again and a bunch of giant red apples fell from his branches. They were heading towards us, catching us off-guard, and they knocked over everyone’s tower of puyos, making us start over.

“ **H-Hey! That’s cheating!** ” I shouted.

But Whispy didn’t care, as he was now shooting giant cloud puffs at us. We got out the way, but that attack ended up destroying all the Puyo that was there.

“ **The puyos!** ” Arle shouted.

“What do we do? We can’t build up!” Ringo said.

“Every time we do, Whispy will just attack us.” Raffina added.

“And with the number of attacks he has, he’ll just keep doing it.” Adeline stated.

_This is harder than I thought. I never would have thought that a tree would have this many ways to fight us. If only there was a way to build up a chain while avoiding his sudden attacks. It would help by a long shot! But how?_

I then felt a tug on my arm, and looked over to see Kirby standing next to me.

“Poyo. Poyo.”

“Huh? What’s that, Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo, p-poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“You mean I build the chain and send the power to you? Is that possible?”

“Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo.”

“So that way they’ll be fewer people, therefore easier to dodge attacks?”

“Poyo!”

…

“That…could work.”

“Can it really?” Arle asked.

“We have to try, right? Let’s have four out front and five in the back sending power.”

“Poyo!”

“Alright, Kirby. I’ll be sending power to you, okay?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“I’ll be out front with him, Ami!” Raffina said.

“Right! Gotcha, Raffina!”

Gooey waved his tongue around, saying he’ll be in front as well.

“I’ll go too. Cause I think Ringo’s too scared to do it.” Arle said.

“Fair enough.”

As the group of four stood out in front, the rest of us stood back so we could have enough room to build. As more puyos came down, we started building again. Whispy noticed this, and begun attacking again. This time, with what looked like his roots.

“ **Guys, look out!** ” I shouted.

And just like that, all four of them dodged the attack. Whispy then dropped more giant apples and sent them our way. And like the first time, all four dodged them. Kirby’s plan was actually working! I couldn’t believe it, but it actually was!

We were almost done with each of our setups, and then soon after we set off our chains.

“Ready, you guys? Here it comes.” I said.

As each Puyo wall began to shrink, the four out front started feeling some power as we started sending it to them. As the 5th set of puyos popped, they had enough to attack.

Out of nowhere, Kirby gained another weird hat. This time it looked like a crown with electricity flowing from it. Then suddenly, a small ball of electricity formed around him. It looked pretty cool from my point of view.

“ **PLASMA ARROW!** ”

“ **NEIGE!** ”

“ **FIRE!** ”

I looked over at Gooey to see that…he was basically on fire! He then jumped up high and turned into a fireball, absorbing Kirby’s electricity and Arle’s fireballs and charged at Whispy with Raffina. Both making direct hits, knocking Whispy out.

“Woah! That was amazing!” Ringo said.

“I never knew Gooey could do that!” Adeleine said.

“Me neither. It’s kinda strange and cool at the same time.” Ribbon said.

“Keep it up, you guys!” I cheered.

“Right, Amitie!” Raffina and Arle replied.

“Poyo!”

Gooey formed his tongue to form a thumbs up, which again…was pretty impressive.”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

Whispy had came to and grew angry. He then started shaking again, but this time he unrooted himself and jumped high into the air. He eventually landed, splitting the group of four into two groups of two. He even grew bigger in size!

“ **W-Woah!** ” I shouted.

“ **That’s not good! THAT IS NOT GOOD AT ALL!** ” Ringo began panicking.

“Has Whispy ever done **_that_** before?!” I asked Adeleine.

“No, not at all! It must be the weird power that’s possessing him!”

“I see. Then we’ll just have to make do with this situation. You and I will supply Kirby and Raffina. Guys, you go help Arle and Gooey.”

“R-Right, Amitie!” Ribbon said.

Bandana-Dee gave a slight nod, then the two of them dragged Ringo, who was frozen in fear, off with them.

“Ready?” I asked Adeleine.

“Yep!”

We both ran over to Kirby and Raffina’s side of Whispy and started building while as more puyos rained down.

Whispy had started shaking once again and the leaves on his branches began rumbling. We were prepared for more apples to rain down, but what did rain down weren’t apples. Instead, they were these blue metal balls with two big eyes and 8 silver spikes. They bounced pretty high when they landed and were heading for me and Adeleine.

“ **Watch out!** ” Adeleine shouted before swatting them away with her paintbrush. Some of them actually hit Whispy, too.

“Wow. Th-Thanks, Adeleine.” I said.

“What were those things?” Raffina asked.

“Those were Gordos. They’re indestructible and really hurt you if you touch their spikes. Even though they don’t do anything.”

“Wow. That sounds painful.”

“Trust me, it is.”

“You guys okay over there?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re okay!” Arle shouted. “Bandana-Dee blocked those things for us!”

“Great!”

We went back to building our Puyo towers and we were ready to set off. We built it bigger this time. So hopefully, this next attack will K.O. Whispy fully this time.

Both mine and Adeleine’s tower combined made a 9-chain, and the power was sent over to Kirby and Raffina.

“ **PLASMA LASER!** ”

“ **DECHARGE!”**

Both attacks managed to hit Whispy, along with Arle’s Jugemu spell and another crazy attack from Gooey, where he floated up and shot a really powerful laser from his body.

It KO’d Whispy again. We thought it was done…

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

…but he came to seconds later and the green aura around him became intense. He unrooted himself again and jumped high into the air. We had no idea where he went. But then we heard more rumbling and saw a new mountain-like hill appear from the ground in front of us. Whispy soon landed on the hill and it too had the same intense green aura.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Damn, this tree is stubborn!” Raffina yelled.

“I know! He never knows when to quit!” Adeleine yelled.

“Then we don’t have a choice now, do we?” Arle asked me. “We’ve got to hit him with our strongest power!”

“Right! I’m on it!” I said as the five of us power suppliers stepped back to get some room.

As we started building an even bigger tower, giant vine-like roots came from the ground. Poking out from random places and even almost stabbing some of us, but we all managed to dodge the attacks.

The five of us finished our towers and set them off at the same time, totaling to a massive 20-chain. The power from all that fused with the power the four out front already had and were fully powered up.

“ **BAYOEN!** ”

“ **PLASMA WAVE!** ”

Gooey turned into a fireball again, but this time he absorbed the previous two spells. So now he was surrounded with Kirby’s electro-ball and four miniature versions of Arle’s Bayoen!  I didn’t think it could get crazier than that, but them Gooey turned to me and waved his tongue for something.

“ **W-Wait, seriously?! You want Raffina to kick you?!** ”

“ **Gooey, are you sure about that?!** ” Raffina asked.

Gooey formed his tongue into a fist, giving me his answer.

“H-He said it’s okay…”

“W-Well…if Gooey’s okay with it…hey Ribbon, can I get a lift?”

“S-Sure, Raffina.”

As Ribbon started carrying Raffina, Whispy began attacking again. Sending more vines at us, only this time it looked like they were trying to grab us.

“ **HURRY, RAFFINA!!!** ” I shouted.

“Right! Here I go… **CEIL ARK!** ” Raffina kicked Gooey as hard as she could and sent him flying towards Whispy. Destroying the vines that were heading for us, and heading for the tree himself.

The explosion it caused made a whole bunch of smoke, but we were able to see Whispy being flown off from the hill and back on the original spot where we first encountered him. He shrank down to his normal size and slumped down a bit forming a tear from his left eye, which along with his right one, had stopped glowing and the green aura around him had disappeared.

We…we won the battle.

 

We were all breathing heavily as the battle was exhausting. But it was also really fun as well. Never in my life have I ever played Puyo Puyo like that! It was so exhilarating!

“Wow… **That was some battle!** ” Arle said.

“I know right?! I never thought a tree of all things would give me such a work-out! **It felt great!** ” Raffina said.

“Yeah, you guys did great!” I said.

“All thanks to you, Ami!”

“What do you mean? The whole power sending thing was Kirby’s idea.”

“True, but you played it so cool. Almost like you've done it before.” Ringo said.

“Really?”

“Poyo Poyo!”

“Thanks, you guys. That really means a lot.” I started blushing a bit.

“I must say, I’m impressed.” Coo said. I guess he was watching the whole time. “I’ve never seen that kind fighting before. What is it, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s a game we call Puyo Puyo. We play it a lot back in our world.”

“I see. Well, it looks like that game of yours managed to calm Whispy down.”

We all looked at Whispy again, still with the one tear coming from his eye. Then something fell out of his branches and landed next to him.

“Woah. What is that?” I asked.

“It looks…almost like a Puyo.” Arle said.

It did look like a Puyo. A green one to be exact. But this one was a bit…off. Instead of being squishy, it looked like it was made of some type of crystal. And it had a green fire around it. For whatever reason, I decided to touch it, but the flames didn’t hurt…like at all.

_Just what the heck is this thing?_

“Do you think it was that thing that was possessing Whispy Woods?” Ribbon asked.

“Maybe. I’m not too sure.” I answered.

“Do you think Magolor would know what this is, Adeleine?” Ringo asked her.

“It’s possible. He has been everywhere at this point. Maybe we should take to him.”

“But what about Whispy? Is he going to be okay?” Raffina asked.

“Oh, he’ll be fine. He’ll probably be fully recovered in a couple of hours.” Coo claimed.

“Okay then. Let’s get this thing back to the Lor Starcutter.” I said. “It was really nice to meet you, Coo.”

“Same to you, Amitie. Thank you girls again for ridding the forest of these jelly blobs.”

We waved Coo goodbye as we all headed out of the forest. All while I was carrying this weird crystal Puyo thing.

 _Th-This thing’s kinda heavy._    

 


	12. Mysterious Crystal

As we made our way out of the forest, I was struggling to keep this crystal Puyo thing in my hands. It’s so heavy! I bet 1,000 regular puyos are lighter than this thing! I felt like I was going to drop it when Raffina came up to me and grabbed one side of it.

“Th-Thanks, Raffina.”

“You’re welcome, Ami.” She said with a smile. Which made me blush a little. Recently for some reason, I’ve been getting nervous around Raffina and vise-versa. We’ve been rather close lately, too. It felt like she hated my guts before. But now, we’re best friends and do tons of fun together…like saving Dream Land, for example.

_But for some reason, I feel like…it’s more than that…_

As the two of us continued to carry the thing together, we saw what looked like Magolor’s ship in the sky. Turns out it was, and it was landing next to us.

“Hey, guys. Thought I could meet you all halfway.” Magolor greeted us.

“Poyo!”

“Yeah, thanks for that, Magolor.” Adeleine said. “By the way, do you know what this thing is?” She pointed her paintbrush at the crystal we were holding.

“W-Wow. Where you find THAT?”

“It was in Coo’s Forest. Apparently, it was possessing Whispy Woods.” Ringo answered.

“Possessing Whispy? That’s…strangely normal, but still weird. So when you defeated Whispy, that thing came out of him?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Arle said.

“And we have no idea what it is either.” Ribbon added.

“Well, unfortunately, neither do I. But seeing how it looks like one of those Puyo things, maybe Misuki knows what it is.”

“Yeah. Maybe she does.” I said. “But how are we going to ask her?”

“Not to worry, Amitie. I have a way. Just follow me.”

“Okay, then.”

We then made our way on board the ship. I’m just really glad I can put this thing down now. It’s starting to hurt my hands.

_Owie…_

 

**Spaceship of the Ancients - Lor Starcutter**

 

Once me and Raffina found a place to put the crystal down, we joined the others while Magolor was typing on his giant keyboard. Soon, static came on the screen and not long after that, we saw Misuki come on the screen.

“Oh. Hey, Magolor. Hey, Ami. You guys finished already?”

“Not quite, Misuki. We kinda need your help with something.” Magolor said.

“Really? With what?”

“We found this weird crystal not too long ago and we were hoping if you knew what it was.”

“A weird crystal? Let me see.”

_So much for resting my hands…_

Me and Raffina picked up the crystal again and brought it into view of the screen. When we placed down again, not only did my hands hurt again, but when I turned to the screen, Misuki’s face was beyond shock.

“ **N-NO WAY!!! I-IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?!** ”

“So you know what it is, Misuki?” I asked.

“Maybe. If I could get a closer look, I’ll know for sure.”

“Well, I can transport you over here. Would that help?” Magolor asked.

“Really? That would help a lot.”

“Then I’ll transport you in no time flat.”

 The screen disappeared and after Magolor did some typing on his keyboard, the star-shaped portal from before appeared and out from it came Misuki, wearing a white t-shirt with pink strips on the chest area, black shorts, and white sneakers. Not surprisingly, she also had her broom with her.

“Geez, that portal was loud!” She said while rubbing her ear.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’m trying to get that fixed.”

“Hey, Misuki!” I cheered.

“Hey, Ami!”

We went up and hugged each other like friends would and then part away seconds later.

“So this is Misuki, huh? Nice to meet you. I’m Adeleine.”

“I-I’m Ribbon.”

“The other two are Bandana-Dee and Gooey.” Adeleine added.

“Well, nice to meet you all. You seem to have a lot of friends, huh Kirby?”

“Poyo!”

“And more?”

“Poyo!”

“Wow. That’s a lot. You’re pretty lucky.”

“Poyo poyo!”

The rest of us visitors looked confused at what we saw.

“Wait, Misuki. How can you understand what Kirby’s saying?” I asked.

…

“I…don’t really know, to be honest. I guess I just learned from watching you, Ami.”

…

“…I guess that makes sense.”

“So, Witch, do you really know what this thing is?” Arle asked.

“Oh, right. Let me look at it.”

Misuki took a good look at the crystal and touched it a few times. She looked surprised when we showed it to her, so it’s likely that she knows something.

“Yep. This is definitely what I think it is.”

“So you do know?” Ringo asked.

“Yep. This…is a Puyo Soul.”

That name sounded really creepy.

“A what?” We all asked.

“Poyo?”

“A Puyo Soul. It’s this thing that creates puyos and controls them.”

“ **NO WAY!!!** ” We shouted.

“You mean this thing… ** _creates_** puyos?!” I asked.

“And… ** _controls_** them?!” Raffina asked.

“Witch, how do you know about this thing?!” Arle asked.

“I learned about them when I was young and still going to witch school. People always wanted to find them, but they never could. I just can’t believe I’m actually seeing one this close up.”

“Wait…Misuki…you said _them_. Why is it _them_?” I asked.

“Ami…there’s one for each color.”

…

…

…

“ **WHAT?! YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS?!** ” Me, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina shouted.

“I’m dead serious.”

 

“So the reason why puyos are raining down Dream Land is because of these Puyo Souls?” Ribbon asked.

“Sounds like it, Ribbon.” Adeleine replied.

“How did they get here, anyway?”

“Well, unlike the puyos they create, the Puyo Souls don’t hop around. So someone had to have brought them here.” Misuki explained.

“ _sigh._ And if I had to guess, it was probably Dedede.” Adeleine sounded agitated.

“Who?” Ringo asked.

“King Dedede. He’s the _self-proclaimed_ ruler of Dream Land. He’s also known for being greedy when it comes jewels and food.”

“I get it. He must have heard of the Puyo Souls and found a way to bring them here, thinking that they don’t do anything. Typical Dedede.” Ribbon said.

“Yeah, that does sound like something Dedede would do.” Magolor added.

“I see.” Arle said.

“So then let’s go find this Dedede guy, beat him to a pulp, and get the Puyo Souls back!” Raffina shouted.

“It sounds simple. A little too simple, but what choice do we have?” Ringo said.

“Where would we normally find him?” I asked.

“He’s usually at his castle.” Magolor said. “To get there, you’ll have to go through Ice Cream Island, Orange Ocean, and finally Dedede Resort.”

“Dedede Resort? The guy has his own resort?” Ringo asked.

“We can’t believe it either.” Adeleine and Ribbon said.

“Well, that’s something.”

“And there’s going to be puyos there to clear, too.” Arle said.

“Yeah, it sounds like a lot. But we can do it! Right, guys?” I asked.

“ **RIGHT!** ”

“ **POYO!** ”

“Alrighty! Let’s **GO!!!** ”

“Once you head out, keep going west. Ice Cream Island is down that way.” Magolor said.

“Good luck, you guys!” Misuki said.

I waved Misuki bye as our party of 9 headed out the Lor Starcutter and in the direction Magolor told us to go. With our new mission now clear, we head out for Ice Cream Island to hopefully take back the rest of the Puyo Souls from King Dedede.

 _I can tell this is only the beginning of our Dream Land Invasion!_      

 


	13. Beach Scorcher

**Sunny Beachside - Ice Cream Island**

 

“ _Aw._ I know you said that most of the areas are named after food for some reason, but I was really hoping for giant scopes of ice cream to be everywhere.” I told Adeleine.

“I wouldn’t mind having that.” Ribbon said.

“Poyo!”

“Of course you two wouldn’t.” Adeleine said. “You guys love ice cream more than anything in the world.”

“Wow. I didn’t think you guys ate ice cream that much.” Ringo said.

“Normally, it’s any sweets they could get their hands on. Especially cake. And it’s really cute when they eat together, too.”

“H-Hey! W-Will you stop already?!” Ribbon whined, with her cheeks bright red from embarrassment.

“Aw come on, Ribbon. We all know that you like Kirby.”

“Y-Yeah, as a friend! That’s it!”

“But what about the time you felt extremely happy after you ki…”

“ **ADELEINE!!!** ” Ribbon’s face was as red as Ringo’s hair at this point.

“What? I’m just saying.”

Ribbon was so embarrassed, she flew off ahead of us and Adeleine chased after her. Repeatedly apologizing to her. The four of us didn’t really know what they were talking about and were mildly confused.

“Uh…hey, Bandana-Dee. Do you know why Ribbon was acting like that?” I asked.

Bandana-Dee wrote on his board then after a few seconds showed it to us.

“ _A while ago, we helped Ribbon collect the Crystal Shards and saved her planet, named Ripple Star, from being consumed by Dark Matter, the evil entity from before. It was the first time the four of us met Ribbon. And during the victory ceremony, she was so happy that Kirby saved her home and everyone on it, that she kissed him on the cheek and got even happier._ ”

“Oh wow. That’s really cute.” Raffina said.

“So does Ribbon **_like_** Kirby? Like in  ** _that_**   way?” Arle asked.

Bandana-Dee erased his board and wrote something else on it.

“ _She says she doesn’t. but it’s so obvious, I’m surprised she hasn’t noticed by now. Kirby, on the other hand…you kinda expect that from him._ ”

“Oh. I get it now.” I said.

“Poyo?” Kirby was listening throughout the whole conversation, and it looked like he didn’t get it at all.

“ ***giggle*** It’s nothing, little buddy. Come on, let’s catch up with Adeleine and Ribbon.”

“Poyo…” Kirby didn’t really want to accept it, but I guess he knew that if he kept asking, he’ll get nowhere. So he went ahead and followed me.

_Geez, if only Sig was more like that…_

 

As we made our way through the inaccurately-named beach known as Ice Cream Island, we managed to catch up to Adeleine and Ribbon. The latter seemed to have calmed down already, which is good on our end.

_Especially Kirby. Poor guy doesn’t even know that Ribbon has feelings for him._

“Well, despite not having any giant ice cream everywhere, this place is still pretty beautiful. Don’t you think, Ami?” Raffina asked me.

“Yeah, I admit, Raffina. This place is really nice.”

And I meant that, too. The clear white sand sparkled in the sun and seashells were scattered all over. We were surrounded by really tall palm trees and only got a tiny glimpse of the ocean, which was crystal-clear blue.

“So is Orange Ocean over there?” I asked.

“Sure is. We just need to get pass these palm trees somehow.” Adeleine said.

“Well, maybe we can climb over them.”

“No.”

“No way.”

“Not happening.”

These were the responses from Arle, Ringo, and Raffina.

“Huh? Why not?”

“Amitie…do we really need to say it?” Arle asked me.

“Say wha…”

Before I could finish, I took a look at the three girls again and remembered why they’re against the idea.

“ _Oh…_ ”

…

…I then giggled a bit…

“ **Shut up!** ”

…Which of course, got them angry.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“So any other ideas then?” Adeleine asked.

We sat around for a bit trying to think of a way to get pass the palm trees. As we were doing so, we were suddenly ambushed by a huge group of puyos.

“So there really are puyos all the way out here.” Ringo said.

“Well, in that case, let’s start clearing them!” Arle cheered.

“You ready, Kirby?” I asked him.

“Poyo!”

“Then let’s go!”

We started grabbing puyos and stacked them onto each other. Me and Kirby made one together and managed to create a 6-chain. We both felt the power rushing inside us as we prepared our attacks.

“ **FLAME!** ”

“ **FIRE BREATH!** ”

“ **CYCLOWHIRL!** ”

“ **SMASH PUNCH!** ”

“ **AKTINA!** ”

“ **FINAL CUTTER!** ”

And with that, we cleared a lot of puyos…but there was still a bunch more. Every time we thought it was all cleared, more kept showing up.

“How are there so many puyos here?!” Ringo asked.

“Do you think a Puyo Soul is nearby?” Adeleine asked.

“It can’t be. All five colors are here.” Raffina said.

“Guys! Look!” Arle shouted while pointing to the sky.

What fell from the sky was a huge green armored guy with a giant sword and a giant green shield. Much like Whispy, he had a creepy glowing aura around him, only this time it was red.

 “ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!** ” Ringo and Ribbon screamed in terror as they ran and hid behind a palm tree.

“ **W-Woah! Wh-What is that thing?!** ” Raffina asked.

“That’s Gigant Edge! He’s known as a Demon Beast! There’s a ton of them here, although we don’t know how they got here.” Adeleine said.

“D-Demon Beast?! Th-That sounds terrifying!” Arle said.

“Yeah, they are. In this case, Gigant Edge uses his giant sword to attack and can sometimes block attacks with his shield.”

“Woah. So they can fight back?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah. They take a while to defeat, too. We had to deal with them a lot during past adventures.”

“So, in a way, they’re mini-bosses?” I asked.

…

“…Y-Yeah. That’s exactly it, Amitie.” Adeleine sounded surprised that I knew what a mini-boss was.

“Ami, how do know that?” Raffina asked me.

“Well…I play a lot of video games.”

“I-I see.”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Looks like we have to defeat this guy in order to get pass!”

“Us four can take him!” Arle cheered.

“Right with you, Arle!” Adeleine said.

“Kirby, can you and the others build the chains?” I asked him.

“Poyo!” Kirby agreed.

Bandana-Dee and Gooey agreed to help too.

“ **Will you two get over here?! We need your help!** ” Arle shouted at Ringo and Ribbon.

“B-But…t-the m-monster… **I-IT’S SCARY!!!** ” They both cried.

“We’ll leave you behind if you don’t help.” Adeleine said.

“ **N-No, please don’t!** ” Ringo whined.

“ **We’ll help, we’ll help! Just don’t leave us!** ” Ribbon whined.

_Geez, these two are so much alike._

“Alrighty then!” I cheered with my fist in the air. “Let’s…”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

 

A new set a Puyo rained down on us as we prepared to do battle with Gigant Edge the demon beast. The five in the back each prepared a Puyo wall while us four dodged the beast’s multi sword strike attack. It then rose it’s sword in the air, looking like it was charging up power, and slammed it down, causing a shockwave to appear and hitting all four of us. Knocking us back a bit.

“ **GAH! Geez, this guy’s strong!** ” Raffina shouted.

“Demon Beasts are usually strong, but this much power is unlike them.” Adeleine claimed. That’s when we noticed the strange aura surrounding it.

“Hey, guys. That thing’s glowing kinda like how Whispy was back in the forest.” Arle said.

“Yeah, only it’s red instead of green.” I added.

“Adeleine…do you think?” Raffina asked.

“No, it can’t be.” Adeleine said. “Demon Beasts usually aren’t that bright enough to absorb power on their own. The power of the Puyo Souls must’ve spread much like the puyos did.”

“So you think the other demon beasts got the same power up as Gigant Edge?” I asked.

“Yeah. Most likely that’s the case.”

“Well, even so, it’s still four against one!”

“Yeah, Ami’s right! We can still beat this thing!” Raffina cheered.`

“Poyo poyo!”

“You guys are ready?” Adeline asked.

“Yeah, we are!” Ribbon said.

“Just get rid of the monster already!” Ringo shouted.

“Alright, let’s go!” Arle cheered.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

The back five had set off their chain and we soon felt the power rushing through our bodies. We eventually had enough power to attack with our lv. 1 spell, but then I remembered something.

“Hey, Adeleine. Didn’t you say this guy will block our attacks?” I asked her.

“Yeah, but not all of them. He’s weak to some elements, like fire.”

“Fire…” That new info got me thinking. “Hey, you think you and Raffina could attack first and me and Arle hold back a bit?”

“You mean distract him enough so he won’t use his shield twice in a row?”

“Not a bad idea, Ami.” Raffina said.

“Alright, Amitie. We’ll go with your plan. Ready, Raffina?”

“Ready when you are.”

As me and Arle stepped back to gain more power, Adeleine and Raffina began to unleash their attacks on Gigant Edge.

“ **NEIGE!** ”

“ **BRUSH SLASH!** ”

And just like I thought, it blocked them with its shield. Once the shield was down, the two attacked again. This time, inflicting damage on the demon beast and knocking it down.

“Alright, guys. You’re up.” Raffina said.

“Thanks, Raffina. Ready, Arle?”

“Ready, Amitie.”

 As the two of us continued to charge up our power, for some reason we held each other’s hand felt a strong bond between us. Like a scorching surge of unknown power was flowing through us at rapid speed as we finally unleashed our powered-up fire spells.

…Or, so we thought it was our fire spells.

“ **DRAGON STORM!** ”

What came out from our hands was a torrent of fire that took the shape of a giant dragon and blasted the demon beast, shooting him in the air and falling to the ground face first, dropping its sword and shield before exploding out of existence.

“Woah…” Was all me and Arle were able to say.

“Did you plan that too, Amitie?” Ribbon asked me.

“No, not really. I just grabbed Arle’s hand out of instinct. I didn’t think it would do that.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Arle added. “I did the same thing, not thinking that would happen.”

“That’s kinda weird…” Adeleine said.

“Yeah…but also useful.” Ringo said.

“Poyo…”

We looked over to see Kirby, Bandana-Dee, and Gooey looking at something with very deep looks of amazement. When we joined them to see what they were looking at, we too were amazed at what we saw.

“Wow…Ami, whatever trick you and Arle just did destroyed a bunch of palm trees and made a path.” Raffina said.

“That’s insane.” Adeleine said.

“And kinda scary, too.” Ribbon added.

“But still, what could’ve caused such a power to be unleashed like that?” Ringo asked.

Me and Arle looked at each other with confused and somewhat scared looks on our faces. This new power we found was proving to be not only useful, but also dangerous.

“Hey, Arle. Let’s agree to not use this new power unless it’s necessary, or at least until some can explain it to us, okay?”

“Yeah. Sounds good to me, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Well, at least it cleared a path for us.” Ringo said.

“Yeah. Orange Ocean is down that burnt palm tree path.” Adeleine said.

“Alrighty! Let’s go, everybody!” I cheered.

“Yeah!”

“Poyo!”

We all then started making our way down the burnt palm tree path, with some pieces of bark still on fire a little. To think something that powerful was inside me and Arle the whole time…

_…Is there something we don’t know about each other?_

 

 


	14. The Jiving Jester

**Sunset Isle - Orange Ocean**

 

It didn’t take us long to get through the burned palm tree path from Ice Cream Island. And soon we were near the waters of Orange Ocean. Unlike the waters back in our world, Orange Ocean looks a lot, and I mean **A LOT** , cleaner. Clean enough to swim in it. Too bad I don’t have my swimsuit.

“So how are we supposed to cross Orange Ocean?” Raffina asked.

“We usually go by Warpstar, but I don’t think all of us can fit on that thing.” Adeleine said.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Ribbon said.

“Poyo…” Kirby sounded sad.

“Don’t worry, Kirby. I’m sure we’ll find a way to get across. Thanks for being helpful, though.” I said.

“Poyo!”

“Still, this ocean is really pretty.” Ringo said.

“Yeah. And it’s crystal clear, too.” Arle added. “A lot cleaner than the ocean in our world.”

“I was just thinking that.” I said.

“Really?” Ribbon asked.

“Yeah, it’s true. People keep dumping trash there. So we usually go swimming in the pool.” Raffina said.

“Woah. Our worlds are so different, huh?” Adeleine asked.

“Yeah. But it’s fun for us to compare the two. Right, Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“Hey, hey, hey, Kirby! How’s it going?”

“Aw, geez.” Adeleine sounded irritated.

We all turned around to see a little purple guy wearing a weird-looking jester’s hat, a red bow tie, and some brown shoes. What got my attention is that he was bouncing on a giant purple Puyo.

_Whoa! How did a Puyo grow that big?!_

“ _sigh._ What do want, Marx?” Adeleine asked.

“Whadda you mean? I just wanna know what’s up with the Legendary Star Warrior. Is that too much to ask?”

“For someone like you, yes.”

“Ouch. You’re as moody as ever, Adeleine.”

“Uh, Adeleine. You know this guy?” I asked.

“Yeah. We do. This is Marx. He’s some kind of jester of sorts.”

“A jester?”

“Yeah, but what he’s really known for is the fact that he made the sun and moon fight over nothing, then tricked Kirby into releasing a giant wish-granting space clock so he could use its power to take over Dream Land.”

…

…

“W-Wow…” Was all the four of us could say.

“Hey! I said I was sorry!” Marx yelled.

“Sorry doesn’t fix what you did, Marx!” Adeleine yelled back.

“You guys forgave Magolor! How’s he different from me?!”

“Magolor built an amusement park. What did you do, Marx?”

…

…

“I-I’m working on it.”

“ _Right…_ ” it looked like Adeleine didn’t believe him at all.

“Anyway, looks like you’ve got yourselves a problem or two huh, Amitie, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina?”

“ **WH-WHAT?!** ” We all shouted.

“H-How do you know our names?!” Ringo asked.

“Well, you know how I said that Marx used the power of giant wish-granting space clock in an attempt to take over Dream Land?”

“Yeah…” We said.

“Well, he still has said power.”

“Oh.” We said.

“Yep. I basically have the powers of a universal god. I know pretty much everything. Even when you’re all going to die. Want me to tell ya?” Marx asked.

“No.” I said.

“No thanks.” Arle said.

“I’m good.” Ringo said.

“I rather go without knowing.” Raffina said.

“Suit yourself.”

“So are you done bugging us, Marx? Cause we’ve got somewhere to be.” Adeleine said.

“You’re trying to get to Dedede Resort, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you know a way to get there?” Ribbon asked.

“ _Mmm. I may…but I’m not gonna just tell ya so easily…_ ”

“You want something, do you?” Adeleine asked. “So typical.”

“Hey, hey, hey! No need for name calling! I just want to play a little game!”

“A game?” We all asked.

“Poyo?”

“Yep. This new game of yours called Puyo Puyo sounds like a real boredom-killer. I wanna play a quick round. 1 on 1. If you beat me, I’ll help you get over the ocean.”

“And if we lose?” Arle asked.

“Then you just swim there. Plain and simple.”

“ **That’s not plain or simple!** ” Adeleine yelled.

“You’re only saying that cause you’re human.”

“ _Why you little…_ ”

“So, we got a deal?” Marx continued, completely ignoring Adeleine.

I wasn’t sure if we should trust this Marx guy. Not only did we just met him a few minutes ago, but after hearing what he did to rule Dream Land, he sounds like a person with intense power. But if he’s offering his help in getting across the ocean, then I should at least give him a chance.

_Plus, I wanna know how that purple Puyo he’s jumping on got so big._

“Alright. It’s a deal.” I said. “And I’ll even be your opponent.”

“Great! I knew you weren’t the boring one, Amitie!”

“Wait, Amitie. Are you sure about this?” Arle asked me.

“Yeah, Arle’s right. Marx is a powerful entity.” Adeleine added.

“Well, we gotta try, right? It’ll be a waste if we didn’t.”

“Yeah, but…” Raffina said.

“Trust me, guys. I’ll be fine. Just have my back on this. Please?”

Everyone looked at me with worried looks. I wasn’t sure if they even agree to my idea. But then…

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

“Thanks, Kirby! I knew you’d have my back on this one!”

“ _sigh._ Well, if Kirby’s okay with it, then so am I.” Adeleine said.

“I’m with you too, Ami!” Raffina said.

“Good luck, Amitie!” The other girls cheered.

Bandana-Dee and Gooey gave me their versions of giving me good luck.

“Thanks, you guys.” I said. Then I turned to face Marx face to face.

“Alright, Marx. I’m ready. Let’s…”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ” We both shouted as we began our 1 on 1 match with each other.

 

**BOSS: Vs. Marx**

 

Soon a group of puyos rained from the sky and landed in front of us. The starting group was enough to make a 4-chain, while more puyos were in a stack on the side. I grabbed the first pair, being a red Puyo and a yellow Puyo, and flung it up there with the matching colors. I did this about three or four more times before being satisfied with what I got. While doing this, I remembered seeing that Marx had no arms. I wondered how he was getting the puyos up there. When I eventually looked over to his board, what I saw truly blew my mind.

Marx had suddenly grown these golden yellow-colored bat-like wings, with two sharp fang-like claws on each one and flashing mirror-like, multicolored, hexagon-shaped scales under them. As I looked closer, I noticed that each wing had a red heart on it.

Apparently, Marx was using these monstrosity wings to fling Puyo and build a chain that looked way bigger than mine. I was starting to get terrified that such a person could have such a thing, and was starting to believe that I made a grave mistake.

_Th-This is not good…_

“Get ready, Amitie! I’m about to personally give you a taste of unlimited galactic power!” Marx bragged as his massive chain started going off. Soon he started glowing a purple hue and he flew up in the air with his demonic bat-like wings. He then spawned what looked like a ball from out of nowhere and brought it to his feet.

“ **BALL KICK!** ”

Marx then kicked the ball at high speed and it was hurling right towards me. I managed to dodge it, causing a huge explosion near inches from me…but didn’t notice that he shot more than one. And at that point, it was raining bomb balls. I ran as fast as I could, trying to dodge all that I could. But some managed to hit me and knocked me down.

“ **AMITIE!!!** ”

I could hear Raffina, Arle, and Ringo shout in fear. But I was so lost in my own, that I could barely hear them. I felt my heart racing like I was having a heart attack. Tears ran down from my eyes as I looked up at Marx. Never in my life have I ever faced such a powerful foe. The experience was starting to get too much for me. I was in fear for my life.

“What’s the matter, Amitie? Scarred? Figured so. You may not be the boring one, but you’re definitely the **WEAKER** one! Hahahahahahahah....”

But once Marx said that…that word…that one word that has haunted me throughout my studies. That one word that has constantly blocked me from accomplishing my true dream…all the fear inside me…

…was replaced with rage.

“I…

…am…

…not…

 **WEAK!!!** ”

I felt a new rush of power flowing through my body. I noticed that I was completely dark red and had bloodshot eyes. I was glowing a dark red hue all over, and at some point grew demonic bat-like wings of my own. Only mine were black and the hexagon-shaped scales were only one color: gray.

“ **WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAT HAPPENED TO AMITIE?!?!?** ” I heard Ringo ask while panicking in fear.

“ **I-I-I-I-I-I DON’T KNOW!!!! I-I-I-I-I-I-I’VE NEVER SEEN HER LIKE THIS!!!!** ” Raffina shouted, also panicking in fear.

“Yes… **YES!** **Amitie’s true power! I finally get to experience the power of the Red Puyo Hat! Now the true battle begins!** ” Marx shouted with glee.

“ **W-Wait, WHAT?!?! Just what are you planning, Marx?!** ” Adeline shouted at him.

“ **Hahahahahahahah! You’ll see soon enough. Adeleine!** ”

I flew up to where Marx was and felt the new power going crazy inside me. I looked down at my hand as it started forming a black fire-like energy sphere, and grew a smile as I raised it in the air.

“ **COMIC FLAME!** ”

I shot the fire energy sphere at Marx, but he managed to dodge it. Not knowing to him, the sphere turned back around and hit him in the back. Sending him down a bit, but was able to stay afloat.

“ **Haha! Not bad, Amitie! Just what I expect from someone as powerful as you! But let’s see if you dodge THIS!** ” Marx shouted.

He then curled himself into a ball and began charging up a new attack. Not taking any chances, I started doing the same. And felt even more power flow through me. I had no idea what’s going on, or how this happened…

… **BUT I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!**

“ **MEGASPIN RUSH!** ” Marx shouted, releasing his attack of electrified arrows.

“ **EXO-FLARE!** ” I shouted, releasing my own. This one were medium-sized beam-like balls of light that shot really fast out of my hand. They countered all of Marx’s arrows, and some even made direct contact with him. Sending him back a lot more than the last time.

Before he even had time to recover, I felt my new power reach its maximum limit, and a giant energy sphere started forming above me. I flew above it and aimed it at where Marx was dazed from the last attack.

“ **BAYO-NOVA!** ” I shouted as I kicked the sphere with extreme force and speed. It hit Marx in the face and brought him down to the ground, causing a huge electrified explosion that sent shockwaves through the air.

As I watched the whole thing unfold, I suddenly felt the power draining away as I slowly descended to the ground. Once there, I reverted back to normal and fell unconscious for I don’t even know how long.

 

“ **AMI! AMI! AMI, PLEASE! PLEASE WAKE UP!** ”

“Wh-Wha…? Wh-What happened? R-Raffina?”

“ **AMI! I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE OKAY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GONER!** ” Raffina was hugging me tightly while crying her eyes out over my shoulder. Me myself was blushing extensively and extremely confused.

“R-Raffina?! Wh-What’s going on?! W-Why are you crying?!”

Raffina then looked at me with puffy red eyes of sadness and fear.

“A-Ami…d-don’t you remember?”

“Huh? Remember what?”

“You were playing Puyo with Marx and then all of a sudden you turned into some kind of dark red version of yourself.” Arle said.

“Yeah, and you even had black bat-like wings coming from your back.” Ringo added.

“R-Really?”

“Once that happened, it wasn’t even Puyo Puyo anymore. More like a fight to the death or something like that.” Arle said.

“You seriously don’t remember any of that?” Ringo asked.

…

…

“N-No, not really.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s all over. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen and I didn’t know what would happen to you, Ami.” Raffina said while hugging me again. I honestly don’t remember what happened or what they saw me as, but seeing Raffina cry like this…it hurts. It really hurts. And I hope I never see it again.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, Raffina.” I said as I returned the hug.

“It’s okay, Ami. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“Oh, wow! That sure was fun!”

We heard Marx’s voice and saw him bouncing on the same giant purple Puyo from before.

“ **Alright, Marx! Just what the hell happened up there?! Why did Ami turn into that thing?!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **And we want EVERY LAST DETAIL!** ” Adeleine added.

“ **Poyo!** ”

“Huh? You mean you still don’t know?”

“Know what?” Arle asked.

“The reason why Amitie transformed into that is because of her hat.”

“Her hat?” We all sounded confused.

“What do you mean by that?” Ribbon asked.

“Well…it’s all too complicated for me to explain in words, but I betcha there’s some kind of writing out in uh, what’s that place called…? Oh yeah, Another Dimension.”

“Another Dimension? How do you know there’s stuff related to Amitie’s hat in Another Dimension?” Ribbon asked.

“More importantly, how did you **GET** to Another Dimension?” Adeleine asked.

“ _Oh, I have my ways…_ ” Marx said in a somewhat suspicious tone.

“Where’s Another Dimension?” Raffina asked.

“It’s like, **WAY** out there. Only people who can travel through dimension can reach there. Like Magolor’s ship.” Adeleine explained.

“W-Woah. That’s deep.” Ringo said.

“So, um, Marx. Since you know more about my hat than I do, you think you can take us to Another Dimension?” I asked.

“Well, no. not right now. There’s a special spot you have to be in order to get there. I could take you there if you want?”

“Really? Okay sure.”

“Oh alright, fine.” Adeline said. “But just so you know, Marx. I don’t trust you for one minute.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Raffina added.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard this stuff before.” Marx said.

“So…about the ocean.” I said.

“Oh yeah. I can just teleport us there. No prob.”

“Really? That’s sounds simple.”

“Yep. All I need to do is spawn a black hole.”

“Okay. Just spawn a…wait what?”

“Ready? Here we go!”

“ **WAIT! NO!** ” We all shouted.

But it was too late. Marx had spawned a black hole in front of us and we were all pulled inside. With Marx knowing the secrets of my Red Puyo Hat, it was a no-brainer that we had to let him tag along. So now it was the ten of us swarming around in a circle through a dark and loud black hole.

_I think I’m going to be sick…_


	15. An Ally From Our World

**Royal Playground - Dedede Resort**

 

“ **WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!** ”

***THUD***

“Ow. My head. Why are black holes so rough when spitting you out?” I ask.

“They normally don’t, Am.” Ringo said. “Usually when you get sucked in one, you never come back out. We just keep getting lucky.”

“Well, well…I didn’t know you knew so much about black holes, Ringo. Not your first time in one?” Marx asked.

“Unfortunately, it’s not.”

“Us three happen to know someone who can travel through dimensions. And he’s rather a pain to deal with.” Arle said.

“ _Us three?_ ” Adeleine asked.

“Raffina’s never met him, but she was with us during that time.” I said.

“Wait, was it that time we ended up in Ringo’s world and met her for the first time?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, it was. I’m surprised you remembered that, Raffina.” Ringo said.

“Hey, my involvement may have been minor, but I still helped. I did tell you who Amitie was.”

“Yeah, true. That did help a lot. Thanks, Raffina.”

“No problem.”

After we all recovered from being regurgitated by a black hole, we walked around a bit until we found a gate with a sign on it. I went up and read the sign out loud. Which read:

“ _Welcome to Dedede Resort. Owned by the great and powerful King Dedede. Have some fun and play some minigames. Although you’ll never beat the king’s high scores._ ”

“ **Hmph.** Someone sounds cocky.” Raffina said.

“So right through here is Dedede Resort?” Arle asked.

“Yeah. And the whole minigame system is rigged. There’s this super special prize if you do beat the high score, but Dedede made up these ridiculous scores that no one could beat. Just so he could scam people of their money.” Adeleine explained.

“He keeps denying that it’s rigged, but most of us already figured it out.” Ribbon added.

“ _Most of us?_ ” I asked.

“ _Some people still believe they can beat the ridiculously high scores. But just come here for fun._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board.

“I see.”

 ***NEW HIGH SCORE!*** ***NEW HIGH SCORE!* *NEW HIGH SCORE!***

Just then, we heard some kind of alarm that repeated that phase for a couple of seconds. The alarm was so loud that I kinda jumped a bit.

“Wait, what?! Someone other than Dedede got a high score?!” Ribbon asked.

“ _Great. It’s probably **that** guy again._ ” Marx said, sounding kinda grumpy.

“ _That guy?_ Who is _that guy?_ ” Ringo asked.

“Not too long ago, this weirdo boy showed up out of nowhere and started winning all the games. I tried beating him earlier, but he canned me every time.”

“Wait, you were here earlier? Did you fly all the way here?” I asked.

“No that’s too far. I just used the boat back on Orange Ocean.”

“ **THERE WAS A BOAT?!** ” Adeleine shouted.

“ **AND YOU HAD US GO THROUGH THAT BLACKHOLE FOR NOTHING?!** ” Raffina shouted.

“Hey, hey, hey. It wasn’t for nothing. I had fun…at least.” Marx chuckled.

Adeleine and Raffina just grumbled underneath their breaths.

_They must really not like Marx now…_

 

As we entered the gate to Dedede Resort, Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and I looked around the place to come to realize that it really looks like a decent resort. Granted, I’ve never been to one myself. But Raffina’s told me and Lidelle a bunch of stories about the times she’s gone with her family. She even showed us pictures of them. Yeah, it made me jealous a bit, but luckily Raffina didn’t brag about it to anyone…well besides Klug.

“So, Marx. This _weirdo boy_ …you know what he looks like?” Arle asked.

“Well…can’t really describe him, but I’ll know when I see him.” Marx said.

And after a few more steps…

“Ha! There he is!”

We looked at the person Marx was talking about. Us four other-worlders were really shocked to see who this person was…

…Especially Ringo.

“ **M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-MAGURO?!?!?!** ” She stuttered.

“Huh? Oh! Hey, Ringo! ★ Didn’t expect to see you here! ★ And even Arle, Amitie, and Raffina are here! ★”

“Wait, what? You girls know this weirdo?” Marx asked.

“He’s not a weirdo! This is Maguro. He’s my childhood friend and we go to school together.”

“So, who are your new friends, Ringo? They look kinda cool. ★”

“Well, for starters…this is Kirby. He came to our world not too long ago and when we brought him back, we heard that his world is in trouble. So we’re lending a hand.” I explained.

“I see. Well★…nice to meet you, Kirby ★”

“Hiiiii!” Kirby said.

“He’s actually kinda cute.”

“I know, right? So adorable.” Ringo said.

“It’s nice to meet you, Maguro.” Adeleine said. “My name’s Adeleine. One of Kirby’s friends. This fairy girl next to me is Ribbon.”

“H-Hi.” Ribbon said shyly. She had a blank stare on her face while saying it. Maybe she noticed Maguro’s secret already.

“Anyway, these two are Bandana-Dee and Gooey. They don’t talk much…or like, at all. But we found a way to understand them.”

Bandana-Dee and Gooey simply just waved.

“And then this thing right here is Marx.” She said in a distained tone.

“ _This thing?!_ I’m a person too, you know!” Marx sounded insulted.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

“Well then nice to meet you all, then★” Maguro said.

“Maguro, what are you doing here? How did you get all the way to a different universe?” Ringo asked.

“Well, to be honest, Ringo…I have no idea.”

“Huh?”

“I was in the park practicing my kendama when all of a sudden this red beam of light came out of nowhere. It was so bright, I couldn’t see anything. And then next thing I knew, I was here.”

“Just like that?” Raffina asked.

“Yep. Poof★. Just like that.”

“That’s…pretty strange.” Arle said. “You didn’t question it or anything?”

“Well, at first I was freaking out, but then I found this sweet place★. Soon I forgot I was even here…until I heard Ringo’s voice★.”

“Yep. That sounds a lot like you, Maguro.” Ringo said.

“Wait a sec… _a red beam of light_? Hey, Maguro. While you were here, did you happen to see something called a Puyo Soul?” I asked.

“A Puyo Soul? Nope. Sorry, Amitie. Never heard of it.”

“Fiddlesticks.”

“What’s a Puyo Soul, anyway?”

“Well…it’s actually what creates and controls puyos.”

“Whoa★! Seriously?! That sounds pretty cool★!”

“Yeah, but they’ve proven to be quite dangerous.” Raffina said.

“We found out that they have the power to possess people. We already have one, and we’re trying to find the others before they possess more people and eventually destroy Dream Land.” Arle explained

“I see. That sounds really bad.”

“We’ve got a lead that King Dedede may have them at his castle. So that’s where we’re going.” Adeleine said.

“Hm. Well, I don’t really know who this King Dedede is, but I did see this big penguin guy not too long ago.”

“Big penguin guy? That’s Dedede!” Ribbon said.

“He was here?!” Adeleine asked.

“Yep. Sure was. He looked kinda mad when I beat one of his high scores on these games. He had like a red hue around him and glowing red eyes. I didn’t challenge him again after I saw that.”

“Red hue and red eyes?” Adeleine asked. “Guys, it sounds like Dedede got himself possessed by the Puyo Soul.”

“ **Hmph.** Serves him right for stealing them.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, but now we have to fight him in order to get him back.”

“And whenever Dedede’s possessed by something, it’s really hard to beat him.” Ribbon added.

“Wait, he’s been possessed before?” Ringo asked.

“ _Yeah. Including right now, he’s been possessed 7 times._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote.

“S-Seven times?! Geez, and I thought I had it worse.” Arle said.

“You were possessed, Arle?” Ribbon asked.

“Yeah, but only once. It was by that guy we told you about. The one who can travel through dimensions.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Anyway, Maguro, did you see where Dedede went?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah, actually. He went that way towards that castle over there.” Maguro said, pointing to said castle with his kendama.

“Yep. That’s Castle Dedede!” Adeleine cheered.

“Poyo!” Kirby also cheered.

“We’re close to getting the second Puyo Soul!” Arle cheered.

“Wanna come along with us, Maguro? We could really use the help.” I asked.

“Sure, why not? I’m kinda bored with these games, anyway.”

“ **Hmph.** You’re only bored cause you cheated.” Marx said.

***BONK***

“Ow!”

“Just ignore him. He’s a bit of a pain.” Adeleine said after hitting Marx with her paintbrush.

“Fair enough.” Maguro said with a shrug.

“Alrighty, then! Let’s go get that Puyo Soul!” I cheered.

“ **Yeah!** ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

Once everyone agreed, we ran towards the direction of the castle. To finally defeat King Dedede and take back the Puyo Soul.

…

But…for some strange reason, my hat started twitching like crazy. It only lasted a few seconds, so I figured it was nothing.

…

_…But…still…_

_…_

_…I’m starting to not trust my Red Puyo Hat anymore…_


	16. The Royal Battle

**Fortress of the King - Castle Dedede**

 

After about a 30-minute walk, our Puyo popping party of 11 was standing in front of the huge doors of Castle Dedede. The castle itself was a ginormous, tan-colored structure with stuff you would expect from a castle. Giant windows, cannons, a sunroof. What made this castle different from the others is the fact that this castle had eyes. Angry-looking eyes. It actually looked kinda threating.

“So this is it, huh?” I asked.

“Yep. Castle Dedede.” Arle said.

“Right behind this door…is all the remaining Puyo Souls.” Ringo said.

“And all we have to do is beat King Dedede.” Raffina said.

“So how tough is this Dedede guy, anyway?” Maguro asked.

“In all honesty, it really depends on if he’s possessed or not.” Adeleine said.

“It does?” Arle asked.

“Yeah, it does. Normally Dedede would just use his hammer to fight. But whenever he’s possessed, whoever’s possessing him…gets a bit creative.”

“Creative? How?” I asked.

“Like I said, it really depends on who, or in this case what, is possessing him.”

“Well, that doesn’t help calm the nerves.” Raffina said.

“D-Do we…r-really have t-t-to g-g-go in…th-there?” Ribbon stuttered.

“Y-Yeah. I-I’m w-w-with Ribbon. I-I-I d-don’t….w-w-want to go…i-in th-th-there.” Ringo also stuttered.

“What?! Aw, come on, you two! Not again!” Arle complained.

“You’re not scared, are you Ringo?” Maguro asked.

“Of course I’m scared! We don’t know what this guy will do to us!”

“But you know, it is 11 of us vs. one of him.”

“Yeah. Pretty Boy’s got a point.” Marx said.

“Pretty Boy?”

***BONK***

“Ow! Seriously, quit doing that!”

“I will once you stop being a pest.” Adeleine said to him.

“Maguro’s right, Ringo. We totally outnumber this guy.” Raffina said.

“I…I don’t know…”

“If it makes you feel any better Ringo, I’ll fight with you.” Maguro said.

…

“Y-You will?”

“Sure, why not? We’re friends, right? Friends help each other out in times like this…although times like this rarely happens, but you get the point.”

“Th-Thanks…Maguro.” Ringo said with a faint blush.

“So is everyone ready? I’m going to open the door.” I said.

Everyone nodded their heads and then I faced the two giant doors blocking our way. I didn’t even touch them, yet it seemed like the doors opened on their own. We could see red mist coming out from the castle. The Red Puyo Soul is definitely in here. And hopefully so are the others.

As we each started waking inside, once the last person was inside, the doors slammed shut on their own. Making a huge bang sound that scared the heck out of me.

But I gained calmness again. There was no time to be afraid. Not when we had an entire world to save. We’re so close to riding Dream Land of the puyos. I can feel it!

**_Stupid girl…you’re nowhere near close…_ **

“Huh? Who said that?”

**_Foolish little mortal…you’ll die before you save anything…and I’ll make sure it happens…_ **

“W-Wait?! Wh-What do you mean?!”

**_Your death will be slow and painful…and I’ll enjoy every last minute of it…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!_ **

“Who are you?! Want do you want from me?! **LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!** ”

“ **Amitie!** ”

“H-Huh?! Wh-What?! What happened?!”

“Amitie, you okay? You started talking to yourself.” Arle asked me.

“Then you just shouted _leave me alone_ like something’s after you or something.” Maguro added.

“I-I did? W-Well…I did just hear something…”

“Huh? Hear what?” Adeleine asked.

“It was this creepy, evil voice. It said something like _I’m nowhere near close_ and _my death will be slow and painful_ and a bunch of other creepy and scary stuff.

“ **Wh-What does that mean?!** ” Ringo asked.

“I don’t know…and I don’t know who said it, either. I’m actually starting to get scared.”

**_Good…be scared…seeing you cry in fear will be a great memory for the moment I kill you, Amitie…_ **

“ **WAAAAAAAAAHH!!!! Th-The voice! I-It just spoke again!** ”

“Ami…maybe you should sit this one out.” Raffina said.

“B-But…”

“It’s okay. I’ll be with you to protect you.”

…

“Th-Thanks…R-Raffina.” I said while holding her arm, as we continued our trek through the castle.

**_Not even your girlfriend will save you, Amitard…!_ **

_I’m seriously about to cry…_

 

Minutes later and we were somewhere in the middle of the castle. This place is so huge that I think we got lost a couple times. But as we eventually found the right way, we started seeing the red mist from above us. Not only that, but we heard and felt a rumble every few seconds, which made some of us tumble every now and then.

“We have to be getting close. The rumblings are getting louder. You ready to take on Dedede, Kirby?” Adeleine asked him.

“Poyo!”

“Kirby will show you guys how to deal with Dedede. He’s beaten him many times before.”

“Thanks, Adeleine.” Maguro said. “Ready, Ringo?”

“Y-Yeah…s-sure. R-Ready, M-Maguro.” Ringo stuttered, with the same light blush from before.

“Hey, Amitie. I’ve been wondering…since there’s more people than last time, you think we could more people fighting out there?” Arle asked.

“Yeah. I guess we can. I mean, it makes sense. Plus, we might be able to end the fight quicker.” I said.

“Sounds good to me! I’m gonna fight too!”

Bandana-Dee stood next to Arle and raised his spear in the air.

“You fighting too, Dee?” Adeleine asked.

Bandana-Dee gave a simple nod.

“Alright. Five should be enough. And then me, Ribbon, Gooey, and Marx will build the chains.”

“Sure thing, Adeleine.” Ribbon said.

Gooey made a thumbs up gestor with his tongue.

“Yeah sure, whatever.” Marx said, sounding completely unamused with this whole thing.

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***   

***RUMBLE***

“We’re seriously getting close.” Arle said.

“Yep. Just right behind this door.” Adeleine said.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo. Poyo.”

“Alright, Kirby. I believe in you. I’ll cheer for you on the sidelines.” I said.

“And I’ll be with you the whole time, Ami. You’ve got nothing to fear.” Raffina said to me.

“Thanks a bunch, Raffina.”

**_Pathetic…just as I expect from a piece of crap like you…_ **

“ **WAAAAAHHH!!!!** ” I screamed in terror.

“That voice again?”

“Yeah. And it keeps getting meaner and meaner. Not knowing where it’s coming from is really scaring me.”

“Don’t worry, Ami. Whoever or whatever it is, I’ll give it a beating it’ll never forget.”

“Poyo!”

“Th-Thanks, you guys. I feel a little better now.”

 ***RUMBLE***   

 ***RUMBLE***   

 ***RUMBLE***   

 ***RUMBLE***   

 ***RUMBLE***   

“We better go in before Dedede destroys his own castle.” Adeleine said.

“R-Right. Let’s go.”

With Arle on one side and Ribbon on the other, the doors were pulled open from their handles and we went inside the final room of the castle. As we did, we saw a bunch of waddle-dees run pass us, looking like they running for their lives. One managed to stop once he saw Bandana-Dee. He was jumping up and down while flailing his stubby arms in a panic state, while Bandana-Dee stood there and nodded every few seconds. When another loud rumble happened, the waddle-dee ran off. Leaving the rest of us confused on what just happened.

“What did he say, Dee?” Adeleine asked.

Bandana-Dee started writing on his board what sounded like a very detailed explanation of what the waddle-dee said.

“ _He said that King Dedede has gone completely out of control. Ever since he found this giant red crystal earlier, he’s been acting like a savage animal. Destroying everything in his path._ ” He wrote.

“Wait…ever since he **FOUND** this giant red crystal? So that means…”

“Dedede wasn’t the one who brought the Puyo Souls here!” Ribbon shouted.

“Great. So we’re back to square one.” Adeleine said with a disdained tone.

“Well, maybe we’ll something once we free Dedede from the Puyo Soul.” Arle said.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

***RUMBLE***

…  

***RUMBLE***

…  

***RUMBLE***

…

***CRASH***

Suddenly. The roof above us had broken into pieces. A big penguin-looking guy had crashed through it and landed in front of us. Wearing a scary-looking metal mask and wielding a very big metal hammer. Through the mask we could he had glowing red eyes, and around him was a red aura that looked rather threating.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Dedede!” Adeleine shouted.

“Wait… **THAT’S DEDEDE?!?!** ” I shouted.

“Yeah. And it looks like he put on his mask, too.” Ribbon said.

“Woah…this looks like it’s going to be a tough one.” Arle said.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Maguro agreed. “You’re still up for this, Ringo?”

“Y-Yeah. I-I wanna fight. W-With you guys.” Ringo said while shaking in fear.

“Ami, let’s get out the way quick.” Raffina said.

“Right. Good luck, everyone.” I cheered.

“Thanks, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Poyo!”

Once me and Raffina were far away enough, the battle soon began.

“Alright, you guys. You ready?” Arle asked. “Let’s…”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ”

 “ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

 

**BOSS: Vs. Masked Dedede**

 

Me and Raffina watched as a bunch of puyos rained down from the giant hole in the castle and landed in front of the group of four in the back. It didn’t take them long for them to start building and reach high enough to set off. The five in the front were glowing as they received the power from the popped puyos and began to attack.

“ **FIRE!** ”

“ **SINE!** ”

“ **FURIKEN!** ” Maguro himself doesn’t have any powers, but for some reason his kendama does. Whenever he makes a chain, the little ball on it would glow and when Maguro swings it, it’ll shoot out electric bolts or these multi-colored stars. I don’t really get how that’s a thing, but Maguro seems to be okay with it.

Bandana-Dee threw his spear, but while in the air it split into three. I rubbed my eyes a bit, thinking I was hallucinating a bit. But I wasn’t. and then Kirby…

_Wait, when did he get a hammer?!_

The hammer was on fire and Kirby threw it with the other attacks. They all hit Dedede causing a huge explosion and lots of smoke. When the smoke cleared, we saw that he was still standing.

“Figured it wouldn’t be enough.” Arle said.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

Dedede then started walking towards use with his metal hammer in the air gaining electricity. The group got ready to dodge. It looked like the attack was going to be big and possibly deadly. I was about to warn everybody…

…but then…

“ ** _RAAAWWWGgghhh…_** ”

…Dedede just collapsed right in front of them. The mask and hammer breaking on impact. The red aura around him disappeared and…out came the Puyo Soul…

_…th-that’s it…?_

_We won…?_

 

We all starred at the now unconscious King Dedede, wondering what just happened just now.

“…Uh…wow…” Arle said.

“That was…surprisingly easy.” Ringo said.

“I thought you said whenever Dedede’s possessed, he’s a lot stronger.” Maguro said to Adeleine.

“I did…but…a battle with Dedede was never… **THIS** short.” Adeleine said.

“Huh. I…guess we won, Ami.” Raffina said to me.

“Yeah…I guess. And we got the second Puyo Soul, too. Let’s go check it out.”

“Sure.”

We got up from the floor and began walking towards the Puyo Soul. The redness from it was really…

“ **GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!** ”

“ **AMITIE!!!** ”

Without any warning, I felt myself getting pierced on my stomach by these really sharp teeth. I could barely open my eyes from the pain, but it felt like I was moving really fast. At some point, though, I was spat out like a piece of gum that lost its flavor. The pain was somewhat bearable, so I was able to get up on my own. I felt Raffina’s body leaning on to me to give me some support, as we all looked at what the hell just did that to me.

What we were looking at was a giant snake creature, that looked like it was made of metal instead of flesh or skin. Its body was like an Egyptian-type of yellow and the head was red with one horn on each side.

“ **WH-WHAT IS THAT THING?!** ” Arle asked in a panicked state.

“ **N-NO WAY! I-IT CAN’T BE!** ” Adeleine said.

“ **K-KIRBY…I-ISN’T THAT…T-THE COILY RATTLER?!** ” Ribbon asked.

“ **P-POYO!** ”

“Th-The what?” Maguro asked.

“It’s a monster from another world that Kirby fought a while ago! How it’s here, looking like it didn’t get a single scratch, is beyond even me!” Adeleine explained.

“ **Amitie! Look! In its mouth!** ”

I could barely see it, but what little I did saw made me freak out a lot.

“ **M-MY HAT!!!** ”

After waving it around in its mouth a bit, the Coily Rattler threw my hat out of its mouth and it…landed on the Puyo Soul?!

**_Yes…finally…I’m free…I’M FINALLY FREE!!!_ **

“ **W-Who said that?!** ” Ringo asked.

“ **Th-That’s the voice I’ve been hearing lately!** ” I shouted in fear.

“ **I-It’s coming from…it’s coming from your hat, Ami!** ” Raffina shouted.

My hat started glowing the same red hue as Dedede had. Then it jumped off the Puyo Soul and…started morphing. It was morphing into a body…a body similar to mine. When it was finished, my hat…was unrecognizable at this point. You couldn’t tell it was a hat anymore.

“I-Is that…i-is that me?!” I asked in shock.

My hat had turned into a look-a-like of me. It wasn’t wearing my clothes, but it had on a red sweater with a gray scarf around her neck. A black skirt with red stripes on it that almost reached up to my knees, black socks, and a pair of red and white sneakers. On the sweater was what looked like a soul symbol, had the same red hue all over her body, and the biggest thing I noticed about this look-a-like was that she had my blonde hair, but one strand of it was a different color: dark red.

“I-It…it can’t be…” Ringo stuttered.

“I-It…r-really is Amitie.” Arle said.

“Wh-What…the hell…?” Raffina asked.

 _“Finally…_ ”

“I-It spoke!” Adeleine said.

The look-a-like raised its hand and, without even touching anything, pushed the others away from me. Causing me to fall from the pain in my stomach from earlier. Before I had a chance to recover, I was grabbed by the shirt and lifted to meet face to face with the clone. Her dark red eyes looked really threating and scary. They looked like…

…like it was time to kill.

“ _Finally…it’s time…it’s finally time…!_ ” She said. With me being closer, her voice sounds a lot like mine. But a little…demonic.

“T-T-Time…f-f-for…wh-wh-what?” I stuttered. I was so terrified. I felt blood coming from my stomach thanks to the teeth marks from the Coily Rattler biting me. So I was slowly getting weak.

The look-a-like didn’t answer. Instead, she threw me in the air, teleported to me, and punched me hard in the head. Slamming me to the ground.

“ **AMI! I-I can’t move!!!** ” Raffina said.

I was in so much pain. I could barely move. So much blood had come out from my head that I was getting lightheaded. I tried moving what little I could, but the look-a-like teleported to me again, looking at me with an evil grin on her face. At this point, I was crying in so much fear. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I had no idea what this monster was going to do to me.

But then…then I found out. In the most inhuman way possible.

With her seemingly large claws, the look-a-like pierced her hand through my stomach. Leaving a gaping hole in the middle. I felt more and more blood pouring out of my body as I collapsed to the floor from the massive blood loss.

“ **AMITIE!!!!!!!** ”

I could barely hear the others scream my name in horror as they witnessed the recent event. The only thing I could hear…was the sound of my dying body choking from the puddle of blood I’m lying on.

“ _Have fun in hell…Amitie. **NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!**_ ”

These were the last words I heard, before closing my eyes and lying in the pool of my own blood.

_…G-Goodbye…e-everyone…_

_…I’m…s-so sorry…_

_…I…f-failed you…all…_

 

 


	17. Magical Girl Reborn

  **Starship of the Ancients - Lor Starcutter**

 

“ _Uh…wh-wha…what…h-ha…happened? Wh-Where…am I? Wh-What was I doing?_ ”

“Hey. You’re finally awake.” Said a familiar voice.

_Th-That voice…_

I looked over to where the voice was coming from. To the left of me was Raffina, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed I somehow got into.

“ _R-Raffina…?_ ”

“Hey, Ami. Feeling better?”

“ _B-Better? B-Better from wha…_ **GAH!** ” I clenched in pain as I tried to sit up from the bed.

“ **H-Hey! Be careful! You’re still sore!** ” Raffina shouted.

“What the?! What is this excruciating pain?!” I asked. I then lifted up my shirt to see that I had multiple bandages around my stomach. They were stained with blood but felt like they were super durable.

“Wh-What happened to me?! H-How did I get these bandages?!”

“Ami…you don’t remember?”

“Huh? Remember what?”

“Ami. Please try to remember. We were at Castle Dedede, trying to get the Puyo Soul…”

“Wait, hold on. Castle Dedede…Puyo Soul…yeah. Yeah, it’s starting to coming back to me. We were battling King Dedede and won. And then…and then…”

I then had a flashback of what happened earlier. I saw…me! Two of me, actually! Although one of me was…really scary. It came towards me, and…and…and…

“ **GAH! GET AWAY! DON’T HURT ME!** ” I shouted while shaking my head rapidly.

“ **Ami, it’s okay! I’m still here with you!** ” Raffina said as she tried to calm me down. I eventually did by hugging her for comfort.

“I…I remember. Th-there was another me…and evil me. A-And it attacked me! I-I thought I died!”

“Luckily, we were able to save you. Once Magolor brought you up here, Witch used some kind of potion to heal you mostly. And you’ve been lying here ever since.”

“Really? How long was I out?”

“About 2 days. We were starting to get worried.”

“I see. And you stayed by my side the entire time? Thanks, Raffina. You really are a good friend.”

“R-Really? I-I am?” Raffina started blushing. “Th-Thanks, Ami. I-I’m glad you think that. B-But I wasn’t the only one.”

“You weren’t?”

Raffina then pointed towards the end of the bed. There, on my lap, was Kirby, fast asleep while facing me.

“Kirby?”

“He refused to leave you all alone. He stayed here the moment you were placed here, and I joined not long after. He and I even placed the bandages on you.”

_Wow…I can’t believe it. He waited here for me to wake up. And even took care of me. Kirby really is a caring person, and a true best buddy of mine._

“W-Woah…” I said.

“P-Poyo…?” Kirby started to wake up and saw me sitting on the bed.

“Hey, Kirby. Sleep well?” I asked.

“ **POYO!** ” Kirby cheered as he walked up to me and gave me a big hug. I returned the hug back and we broke apart not long after.

“ ***giggle*** I missed you too, little buddy.”

“You two really do get along, huh?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, I guess we do. Right, little buddy?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“ ***giggle*** That’s really sweet. So you’re ready to see the others? They’ll be glad to see you recovered well.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure, let’s go.”

I uncovered myself from the blanket and got out the bed. That’s when I noticed what I was wearing. It wasn’t my usual clothes at all. Instead, I was wearing a light-pink sleeveless shirt with a pink sailor-style. There was a yellow ribbon underneath it and a pink flower pin to connect them together. My shorts were no longer yellow with pink hearts, but just plain pink, with no patterns or designs whatsoever. Even my shoes have changed, from being red to now pink and white. I still had my red belt, of all things, and even the green wristband on my left arm was still there.

“Hey, Ami. What with the new outfit?” Raffina asked me.

“I…I’m not really sure. Was I wearing this when you guys put the bandages on me?”

“No, you had your normal outfit on. Unless I wasn’t paying attention. Did you see anything weird happening, Kirby?”

“Poyo.” Kirby had no idea either.

“I see.” I said. “Well, it is pretty cute. I kinda like it.”

“Yeah, me too.” Raffina said. “Looks way better than your other one. Looked like a rainbow threw up on you.”

“ _Hey…_ ” I sounded insulted.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Well anyway, I’m ready to go. Where are the others?”

“They’re up front with Magolor.”

“Alright. Let’s go, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

 

The three of us left the room with the bed and headed for the front of the Lor Starcutter to meet up with the others. Kirby had to show us the way to get there, as me and Raffina kept getting lost. Once we did find our way there, we met up with everyone and they were clearly happy to see me still alive.

“ **AMITIE!!!** ” Arle and Ringo cheered as they ran up to hug me.

“H-Hey, guys. I-It’s nice to ***ouchie*** see you too, but can you ***ouchie*** ease up on the hugging?”

“O-Oh, right.” Ringo said.

“Sorry, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Nice to see you still breathing, Amitie.” Maguro said.

“Yeah, we were so worried about you.” Adeleine added. “We couldn’t get Ribbon to stop crying for a while.”

“ **Th-That’s because I thought Amitie was a goner!** ” Ribbon whined.

“Don’t worry, Ribbon. I’m all better now. A little dizzy, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Uh…you sure, Ami? Cause you took quite a beating back then.” Misuki asked me.

“O-Oh yeah.” I said to myself, remembering how it got this injury in the first place.

“How did you get that huge hole in your stomach, anyway?”

“W-Well…” I starting thinking.

“It was because of the Red Puyo Hat.” Marx suddenly said.

“Huh?” The rest of us got confused.

“My hat? You mean my hat did this to me?” I asked.

“Don’t you remember, Amitie? Your hat was taken off your head and it landed on the Puyo Soul. It then transformed into that dark red clone of you.”

I gave what Marx just said some thought. The past was starting to become more clear to me. I did remember my hat turning into a copy of me, and creating this gaping hole in my stomach. It was scary to think about it, but it was also mind boggling. Just what was with my hat for it to do that, anyway? It hasn’t done anything this weird since the whole body possessing thing a couple months ago. Are that and what happened 2 days ago related in some way?

“Amitie…Amitie!”

“Huh? What?”

“You were thinking about it for a while now. Do you know anything about what happened to you?” Adeleine asked me.

“Well, no. But now I’m super curious about it. My Red Puyo Hat has always done weird and sometimes dangerous things in the past, but after this, I really want to know its secrets. What its true power is, you know?”

“W-Wow, Amitie. That’s gotta be the first time you spoke seriously about something.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, it’s not like you at all. You usually act like a 5-year-old.” Arle added.

“Did nearly dying made you mature a bit or something?” Raffina asked.

“ **H-Hey! M-Meanies!** ” I shouted while pouting tremendously.

“That’s the Amitie we know.” The three girls said.

“Alright, girls. I think Amitie’s had enough.” Maguro said.

“Yeah, give her a break, guys.” Misuki added.

_At least I have two friends that aren’t meanies._

As I began to calm down from my recent pout. I started to remember something else from the past. Something that will really help me find out about my hat.

“Hey, Marx. Didn’t you say something about there being information about my hat somewhere?”

“Yeah, I did. It’s in Another Dimension. Why, you wanna go there?” he asked.

“Yeah, if we can. I really want to know about my Red Puyo Hat.”

“Well, like I said before, we need to go to a special spot in order to get there.”

“I see. And what’s this special spot we need to go to?”

“It’s this lava world on another planet called Halcandra. The world itself is called Dangerous Dinner.”

…

…

…

“…Th-That name.” Me, Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Maguro, and Misuki said.

“Yeah, some of these names are rather questionable.” Adeleine said.

…

“A-Anyway, how do we get to uh…Dangerous Dinner?” I asked.

“It’s too far to reach from where we are now.” Magolor said. “We’ll have to go to the lava world here on Popstar.”

“What’s the name of that one?” Raffina asked.

“Endless Explosions.”

…

…

…

“…S-Seriously?” the same six of us asked.

“Like I said, some of these names are questionable.” Adeleine said.

…

“O-Okay, then.” Ringo said.

“So which way is…uh…E-Endless Explosions supposed to be?” Arle asked.

“Not to worry. I’ll just take you guys there. It’s faster than walking.” Magolor said.

“Sounds great.” I said.

“Poyo!”

“Alright. Here we go. Everyone hang on to something. And… **LIFT OFF!!!** ”

The Lor Starcutter lifted from the ground and started flying on its own. Taking us to the next destination of our adventure. The lava worlds with somewhat disturbing names. Endless…Explosions…and Dangerous…Dinner…

_Seriously, who in the right mind named these worlds?!_


	18. Elemental Fusion

**Apocalyptic Sky Island - Endless Explosions**

 

It only took us an hour or so to get to this lava world named Endless Explosions (still can’t get over that name). During the trip, we actually went up higher in the sky for some reason. And when the Lor Starcutter landed and took a glance a little, we were actually **ABOVE** some of the clouds!

“ **H-How is this possible?! Th-This is so illogical!!! Th-This can’t be happening!!!** ” Ringo started freaking out. This is basically what happens whenever something happens and there’s no explanation to said thing. A lava world being above clouds, space-time traveling, encountering Yu & Rei…me and Arle find this as an annoying trait of hers.

“Look on the bright side, Ringo. This is a pretty cool sight★. A _once in a lifetime experience_ as they call it★.” Maguro said, in an attempt to calm her down.

“Y-Yeah…it is, actually.”

“Betcha no one at school is going to believe this★.”

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, for sure.”

“Ringo seriously has a thing for Maguro.” Arle whispered to me.

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, definitely.” I whispered back.

Once Ringo had calmed down fully, we took a more observative glance at the lava world in the sky. As you would expect, there was lava and volcanos **EVERYWHERE!**

“So why is there a lava world up in the sky, anyway?” I asked.

“Well, Endless Explosions is actually part of a world right above Dream Land called Floralia. Kirby once saved this place’s citizens, oddly named The People of the Sky, and freed them and this world from an evil queen named Sectonia.” Magolor explained.

“Wow. You’re always saving worlds, huh buddy?” I said to Kirby.

“Poyo!”

“How where they able to ask Kirby for help?” Raffina asked.

“Funny story.” Adeleine asked. “They sent a magic bean down to Dream Land and it grew into a giant beanstalk overnight. It brought Kirby’s house and even Dedede’s castle up into the sky. Kirby went to go check it out, but that’s when Taranza kidnapped Dedede, thinking he was Kirby.”

“Huh? How does **THAT** happen?” Arle asked.

“Not sure. But once this mistake was realized, Sectonia pretty much ditched Taranza and tried to destroy Kirby herself. Kirby did beat her, but he couldn’t have done it without Taranza and Dedede’s help.”

“Whoa, even Dedede helped out?” Misuki asked.

“Yep. Sure did. He’s not always greedy. In fact, he and Kirby are more so rivals than enemies.”

“Whoa. A rival.” Ringo said.

“Sounds like fun, competitive wise. Wish I had one★.” Maguro said.

“Trust me, guys. You don’t want a rival. I have way too many of them and most of them are annoying.” Arle said.

“Hey! I’m one of your rivals too, Arle!” Misuki yelled.

“W-Well…you’re one of the ones who I consider as a friend, but still kinda sorta annoying.”

“Wh-What?! How am I annoying?!”

“Witch, you make extremely weird potions that most of them lead to exploding in your face. And the ones that don’t do really questionable things.”

“And you always have us test them too.” Ringo added.

“Well, how else am I suppose to see if they’re sellable?”

“ **NONE OF THEM ALL SELLABLE!!!** ” Both Arle and Ringo shouted.

“ **Hmph.** That’s what you think.” Misuki said with full confidence in herself.

_They’re right, Misuki. You shouldn’t be selling these weird potions._

“So anyway, why is this place called Endless Explosions?” I asked.

“ _Well…_ ” Adeleine and Ribbon said. Right before…

***BOOM***

“Wha! What was that?!”

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

“Oh boy. The volcanos erupted.” Adeleine said.

“V-Volcanos?!” Ringo stuttered.

“Yeah. And when they do erupt, they spit out giant fireballs that break apart when the hit the ground.” Ribbon said.

 ***BOOM*** ***BOOM***

 ***BOOM*** ***BOOM***

***BOOM***

“And they sound like bombs exploding.”

“Hence the name.” Adeleine added.

_And I thought the name alone was scary._

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

“There’s no way the Lor Starcutter can get through this mess as is. You guys are gonna have to clear a path.” Magolor said.

“What? Us? How are we  supposed to do that?” Ringo asked.

“We can just use our attacks, Ringo. No biggie.” Arle said.

“Yeah, but how…?”

“Not to worry, Ringo★. It shouldn’t be that hard. We’ll be done in no time★. I’ll even help you out a little★.” Maguro said.

“Th-Thanks…M-Maguro.” Ringo stuttered while blushing a little.

_She seriously has a thing for him._

“I’ll stay here and wait for you guys.” Magolor said.

“And I’ll tag along with you guys. I’m getting bored just laying around here.” Misuki said.

“Sure thing, Misuki. The more help, the better.” I said.

***BOOM***

***BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM***

***BOOM***

“Let’s hurry up and clear the way, please. All this exploding is hurting my head.” Raffina said.

“Sure, Raffina. **Let’s go!** ”

“Poyo!”

“Good luck, everyone.” Magolor said as we ran towards the nearest volcano from where the exploding fireballs were coming from.

 

As we got further in the volcanic death trap, the explosions got louder. So loud, that I think I lost my hearing a couple times. And as you would expect from a lava world, it was extremely hot. I was sweating all over, and even the bandage on my head was soaking wet. It felt gross and sticky. I just had to take it off.

“Aw, geez. This bandage on my head is so sticky.” I said as I started taking it off. Once it was fully off, everyone else kept staring at me with looks of pure shock. I didn’t know what they were staring at, and it was starting to creep me out.

“Uh, guys? Why are you all staring at me so much?”

“A-Amitie…d-did you…look at your head when you woke up?” Arle asked.

“More specifically, y-your hair?” Adeleine asked.

“My hair? What’s wrong with my hair?”

“W-Well…a-anyone got a mirror?”

“I do.” Raffina said. “Here, Ami. See for yourself.”

I took Raffina’s pocket mirror and looked at my hair. Most of it was still its normal blonde color, but the middle part of it…was a different color. For some strange reason, this part of my hair was…light pink. Almost as pink as Raffina’s hair and Kirby’s…well, everything. And it was also glowing the same color too. I immediately understood why everyone was staring at me earlier. As I was creeped out as well.

“ **Wh-What the?! What happened to my hair?!** ” I panicked.

“You mean you have no idea?” Ringo asked me.

“No, not really. When I got out the bed, I realized I was wearing this strange new outfit. I really find it cute, so I didn’t really question it much. But now with my hair this way, I’m starting to get worried.”

“Hey. Marx. You apparently know about Amitie more than anyone else. What’s happening to her?” Adeleine asked him.

“What, you think I know **EVERYTHING** about her?”

“You apparently knew about her hat by reading stuff in Another Dimension.”

“I didn’t memorize it, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m an all-powerful universal god, not a miracle worker.”

“And you wonder why I don’t like you.”

“ _Hey…_ ”

“I-It’s okay, Adeleine. I’m sure once we get to Another Dimension, these question will be answered.” I said.

“You’re surprisingly positive about this.” Adeleine said.

“Yeah. Even in the direst of situations, Amitie’s always such a cheerful little girl.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, like an energetic 5-year-old.” Arle added.

“ **Will you guys stop calling me a 5-year-old?!** ”

“Well, you do act like one, Ami.” Raffina said.

“In a cute way, though.” Misuki added.

“ **Who’s side are you two on?!** ”

  ***BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM***

“Geez, these explosions are getting louder.” Maguro said.

“Yeah, they are. Let’s hurry and clear a path for the ship.” Adeleine said.

“Well, it’s about time you guys showed up.” We heard a new voice. This voice belonged to a weird-looking spider creature that had walked up to us. The guy looked strange. In fact, I think I’ve seen this guy before.

“Taranza? You were here the whole time?” Adeleine asked.

“Huh?” Me and the other non-Dream Land residents asked.

“Oh, right. Everybody, this is our friend Taranza. He was on the computer screen the first time you came here.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember.” I said.

“So these are the girls from before, huh? Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you then. My name is indeed Taranza, the former servant of the late Queen Sectonia.”

“Wait, really? You’re the same guy from the story?” Ringo asked.

“You told them?” Taranza asked Adeleine.

“Yeah, sorry. It just came up during a conversation.”

“I see. Well yes, it’s true. I am the same guy from the story. But I deeply regret the trouble I have caused. And so I live out my days here in Dream Land.”

“Well, that sounds nice.” I said. “By the way, my name’s Amitie.”

“My name’s Raffina. I’m Amitie’s friend and classmate.”

“I’m Arle. Nice to meet you.”

“Name’s Misuki, or Witch. Whichever you prefer. I’m apparently Arle’s annoying rival.”

“Will you just let that go already?” Arle said to her.

“My name’s Maguro. And the scared girl behind me is my best friend Ringo.”

“I-I’m not scared. I-I’m perfectly fine.” Ringo said.

“Ringo. You’re stuttering.” Arle said.

“S-So? Th-That doesn’t mean I’m scared.”

“ _Right…_ ”

“So how long have you been here, Taranza?” Ribbon asked.

“For a few days now. Ever since these jelly blobs started showing up, the fireballs have been more rapid than usual. When they come out the volcanos, they have this weird blue aura around them. And when they explode, instead of fire, it’s ice that litters the ground. Just up ahead are a bunch of giant icicles that hard to break.”

“Woah…giant icicles, blue aura…” I said to myself.

“Ami, you think a Puyo Soul caused this change?” Raffina asked me.

“Yeah, it sounds like it.”

“A what?” Taranza asked.

“A Puyo Soul is a giant Puyo-shaped crystal that actually creates the puyos. There are six of them in all, and someone managed to bring them all here.” I explained.

“So that’s why we’re going all around Dream Land looking for these things.” Adeleine added.

“I see.”

“Hey, Taranza. Have you seen anything like them around here?” Arle asked.

“Well…I didn’t see a Puyo Soul itself, but I did see something just as weird. It was a girl wearing a green and yellow dress that looked too big for her size. She also had horns that were badly hidden behind these hair buns of hers. I tried talking to her, but she kept stuttering and eventually ran off while apologizing repeatedly. She was a fast runner, too.”

“Wait…that description…” I said. I then turned to Raffina and she too had the same look of shock as I did.

“ **THAT’S LIDELLE!!!** ” We both shouted.

“Lidelle? Is she another friend of yours?” Adeleine asked.

“Yeah. She one of our other classmates. She’s really shy and stutters a lot. The fact that she’s here on her own…she must be freaking out right about now.” Raffina said.

“We need to find her and fast!” I yelled.

“Where did you last see her?” Ringo asked Taranza.

“Just up the road. But like I said, it’s covered with giant icicles.”

“Great. More stuff to do.” Marx grumbled to himself.

“You can just leave, you know? Nobody forced you to come along with us.” Adeleine said.

“You kidding? This is the most fun I had since trying to take over Dream Land.”

“Something is seriously wrong with you.”

“Anyway, let’s start looking for Lidelle! Come on, Kirby!” I yelled.

“Poyo!”

We all then followed Taranza to where he last saw Lidelle. First Maguro, now Lidelle. How are our friends getting here so mysteriously? Is it because of these Puyo Souls? Or something completely different entirely?

_Just what did I get ourselves into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave suggestions on what worlds you want to see in this story. If I can make it work, I'll give you credit.


	19. Dark Red Delusions

As we started looking for Lidelle, the explosions from the fireballs were getting extremely loud. And the fireballs themselves…well, they were getting bigger. Good news is they stopped creating giant icicles everywhere. Bad news is…due to their size, they’re breaking off pieces of the ground. And even worse, now they’re also making electric explosions on the ground and sky.

“ **This is insane! These fireballs aren’t even fireballs anymore!** ” Arle shouted.

“ **We’ll never find Lidelle in this mess!** ” Raffina shouted.

“This is strange. Normally this place isn’t this frequent with its explosions.” Taranza said.

“Taranza’s right. Usually Endless Explosions isn’t this…destructive.” Ribbon said.

“Something’s going on here. Could we be getting closer to a Puyo Soul, Amitie?” Adeleine asked me.

“…”

“Amitie?”

“…”

“Amitie…”

To be honest, I wasn’t listening to the conversation. I was basically lost in my own thoughts. Something was swarming inside me like crazy. And it’s not like a normal something, either. It felt like a strange power was surging my body. A power that…I was somehow familiar with. Which to me was weird, because all of my powers are in my hat…

_Speaking of which, I’m who knows how far away from my hat…yet I’m still conscious. I don’t even feel weak at all. Is this light-pink part of my hair the reason? Is it the same reason why I’m wearing this outfit? Now that I think about it, that copy of me was wearing a different outfit as well. That copy…it used to be my hat, right?_

_…_

_Just what is that thing anyway? And more importantly, where did it go?_

“ **YO! AMITIE!** ”

“Huh? What?”

“You okay there, Amitie? You were spacing out again.” Ringo said.

“I-I was? S-Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“I see.”

“ _Wow. You…thinking? That’s a shocker._ ”

“ **There was no need for that insult, jerks!** ” I shouted.

“Huh?” Everyone looked confused.

“Amitie, none of us said anything.” Arle said.

“Poyo.”

“Huh? Really? But I could’ve sworn I…”

“ **G-G-G-G-G-G-Guys! L-L-L-L-L-L-Look up there!** ” Ribbon stuttered.

We looked up to where she was pointing to see someone sitting on top of a pillar behind us. This person…she looked all too familiar. After taking a closer look, I instantly recognized her. And my body solidified in a mix of fear, confusion, and anger.

“Wait…that’s…you’re…” I said.

“ **YOU’RE THE CLONE FROM BEFORE! YOU TRIED TO KILL AMI!!!** ” Raffina shouted with rage.

“ **WAIT, WHAT?!** ” Misuki shouted.

“ _Clone? How can you say such a mean thing to your best friend, Raffi?_ ”

“ **SHUT UP! YOU’RE NOT THE REAL AMITIE!** ”

“ **POYO!** ”

“ _sigh. You’re right. I was just trying to screw with you. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. You really do have some brains in ya, and not just a barbaric brute._ ”

“ **What the hell did you just say?!** ”

“ _Anyway, I’m surprised to see you still alive, Amitie. People don’t normally survive such an attack. Guess I should’ve expected more from my other half._ ”

“ _Other half?_ What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“ _Oops. Guess I said too much for you to understand with that tiny brain of yours. I shouldn’t expect **THAT** much from you then._ ”

“ **HEY!** ”

“Wow, you are such a narcissist!” Arle yelled.

“ _Narcissist? Hmph. You’re one to talk, Tomboy. Talking to everyone like you’re better than them._ ”

“ **H-Hey! I changed! AND DON’T CALL ME A TOMBOY!!!** ”

“ _Oh, really? Cause how I remember it…_ ”

***BOOM***

***BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM***

***BOOM***

“ **GAH! THE FIREBALLS!** ” Ringo started panicking.

“ _Oh, goodie. Looks like I’ve distracted you all enough._ ”

“D-Distracted us?! F-For what?!” Adeleine asked.

“ _Oh, nothing major. **JUST THIS!!!**_ ”

The copy then formed a dark red colored energy sphere and grew it to a substantial size. As this was happening, she grew an evil and creepy smile on her face and giggled a bit in a creepy way.

“ _There’s no way in hell I will let you find all the Puyo Souls! Much like all universes, you will all meet destruction! **Nyahahaha!**_ ”

“ **WAIT, WHAT?!** ” We all shouted.

But before we could force a response from her, the clone shot the energy sphere at us, causing a ginormous explosion and a dark red star-shaped portal to form from behind and it sucked us up one by one. I was the last one to be sucked in. and before the portal closed, I saw my copy laughing hysterically in an evil way.

“ _Enjoy your new home, Amitie. I’ll be sure to come by and visit…once all universes are annihilated, of course!_ ”

Her sadistic giggles were the last thing I heard before the portal closed completely.

 

**Dwarf Lava Planet - Star Lavadom**

 

_Uh…my head. Wh-What happened?_

I sat up from the spot I was in and looked around the area. It looked completely different from before. The sky was all dark and gloomy and there was lots more lava and volcanos. The ground I was on was really hard and a dark purple color to it. As I looked around some more, I noticed that the volcanos were the same dark purple color as well. And the lava had covered most of the ground and volcanos, to the point where some can’t even be seen anymore.

“W-Woah…what…what **is** this place?” I asked myself.

I then started hearing a strange noise that was getting louder and louder. It sounded like a…a plane that’s about to crash or something. But then I looked up and saw what it actually was.

I didn’t like what I saw.

What I saw was a giant flaming meteor with stars made of lava all over its sides heading towards me at a rapid pace. My eyes widen like a cartoon character when I finally realized what it was.

“wha…wha… **WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!** ” I screamed really loud as I quickly dodged the giant meteor just in time before it landed and destroyed the part of ground I was just on mere seconds ago. My heart was beating rapidly as I tried to regain my breath. Which took a lot longer than normal with all the ashes in the air.

“ **Wha…What the heck?! Where did that giant meteor come from?!** ” I shouted. I was still a bit jumpy from the whole thing. So when I felt something touch me, I screamed again and turned quickly to see what it was. I then realized it wasn’t a “what” but a “who”.

“B-Bandana-Dee?! O-Oh. It’s just you.”

Bandana-Dee nodded first, then wrote something on his board.

“ _Are you okay, Amitie?_ ”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Well, besides the whole meteor thing. Just what is this place, anyway?”

Bandana-Dee took a quick glance around, then he turned back to me with a worried look on his face.

“Not good?”

“ _No, not at all. This place is called Star Lavadom. A completely different planet in our world. That clone of yours must’ve sent us here._ ”

“Star Lavadom? **A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLANET?!** ”

“ _It’s one of the farthest planets in the galaxy. Getting back to Popstar will take a long time from here._ ”

“Aw, fiddlesticks! What do we do now?!”

“ _Well, it’s best that we find the others first. Then we can figure out how to get back._ ”

“That sounds like a good idea…it’s also our only idea, but you get the point. Let’s go!”

Bandana-Dee nodded and we went looking around where we could on this planet for the others. What used to be a group of 13 is now down to just 2 people. The search itself will be the hardest thing I’ve done so far in this universe.

_Well…besides nearly dying, I mean._

 

What made the search even harder for the two of us was the fact that there was barely any ground to cover. The hard dark purple path was getting smaller with the lava surrounding it and the giant meteors destroying more parts of it. Not to mention, this planet was **WAY** hotter than the entirety of Endless Explosions. I was sweating all over the place. Then I looked over at Bandana-Dee to see that he was perfectly fine.

“Hey, how come you’re not sweating?” I asked him.

“ _Waddle-Dees don’t sweat. We usually adapt to whatever environment we end up in. It’s like a special trait of ours._ ” He wrote.

“I see. Lucky you.”

_I wish I can adapt to weather environments._

While I was thinking that to myself, I felt Bandana-Dee tapping me again. When I turned to him, in a panicky way, he pointed to my head. Specifically, the weird light-pink part of my hair. It was glowing for some reason and neither one of us knew why. After a few seconds, it stopped glowing…along with something else that stopped.

“Huh? I-I…I don’t feel sweaty anymore. And all the sweat from before is gone. I-I think…I’ve adapted to the weather here! B-But how?!”

“ _Maybe it’s because of your light-pink hair glowing._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote.

“I guess. I can’t really explain it…but at least I’m not extremely hot anymore.”

Bandana-Dee just looked at me with a look of confusion.

***RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE***

“Wha? What’s happening?!”

As we were talking, the lava suddenly started rising around us. The spot we were standing in was quickly getting smaller and smaller. We were getting surrounded by it on all sides. And what worse was more giant meteors were heading our way as well.

“ **GAH! WH-WHAT DO WE DO?!** ” I shouted.

I then saw Bandana-Dee spinning his spear really fast. I didn’t know what he was doing at a time like this, but it was impressive to look at. He then started flying up in the air with the spear still spinning really fast. It was like I was looking at a helicopter. I couldn’t believe it.

Now he was moving his feet a bunch, which during this situation, I knew what it meant.

“You want me to grab on? Okay, I’ll do it!”

I then grabbed onto both of his feet as we got higher up from the ground. Bandana-Dee then started gliding through the meteor storm, dodging all the meteors like he’s done it before. Not a single scratch throughout the whole trip.

“ **Woohoo! It’s like I’m actually flying a plane! Wicked!** ”

We then landed on a high platform that we were sure the lava wouldn’t reach. We both felt a little dizzy at first, but we regained our balance a short while later.

“ **Whoa! I didn’t know you could do that! That was awesome!** Oh, and thanks for rescuing me back there, Bandana-Dee.”

Bandana-Dee rubbed the back of his head from the praise he received.

“H-Huh? Th-That voice… **A-Amitie?!** ”

I then heard a voice I recognized, as it belonged to a person we’ve been searching for a good while now.

“ **Lidelle! We’ve found you!** ” I shouted with glee as I ran up to hug her.

“A-Amitie! I-It really is you! **I’M SO HAPPY THAT I’M NOT ALONE ANYMORE!!! I WAS STUCK IN THIS SCARY PLACE FOR DAYS AND I THOUGHT I WAS A GONER!!!! WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!** ” Lidelle started crying as she held me tighter than I was holding her.

“L-Lidelle! ***ouchie*** I-I missed you too ***ouchie*** , b-but you’re really hurting me ***ouchie*** ***ouchie*** ***ouchie***!”

“S-Sorry, Amitie.” Lidelle said as she finally let go of me.

“Anyway, we’re so glad you’re safe, Lidelle. We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Y-You have? A-And what do you mean by _we_?”

“Oh, right. You don’t know. Well, you see…”

Then explained to Lidelle everything that’s happened these past few days. Kirby crashing in my yard, me, Raffina, Arle, and Ringo coming here, learning about the Puyo Souls from Misuki, finding Maguro here…even the part where my hat turned into a copy of me and nearly killed me. It was a long story. I’m surprised Lidelle listened to all of it.

“I-I see. So all of this started when this Kirby guy came to our world? Was he in your backpack that day at school when I asked you about it?” Lidelle asked.

“Y-Yeah, he was. I told him to stay quiet and gave him some of my food during lunch. I looked crazy, didn’t I?”

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, you did. But only a little.”

“Gee thanks, Lidelle. That made me feel better.” I said sarcastically.

I then felt a light tap on my arm. Bandana-Dee was standing next to me with a neutral look on his face.

“Oh, right. Lidelle, this is Bandana-Dee. He lives in this universe. Bandana-Dee, this is my friend and classmate Lidelle. She can be a bit shy, well okay, really shy…but she’s a really good friend and good puyo player.”

“Nice to meet you, Bandana-Dee.” Lidelle said.

“ _It’s nice to meet you too, Lidelle._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote.

“Oh, yeah. He can’t talk, so he writes his thoughts on a dry-erase board.” I added.

“I see.”

  ***RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE***

“ **GAH! THE LAVA! IT CAUGHT UP TO US!!!** ” I shouted.

“ **WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAT DO WE DO?! H-H-H-H-HOW DO WE GET OUTTA HERE?!** ” Lidelle stuttered in fear.

That’s when Bandana-Dee used his spear to point at something we didn’t notice before. It was a floating mirror that showed another volcano world in its reflection. It was a bit odd, but we didn’t really have a choice right now.

“ **Right, Dee! Come on, Lidelle!** ” I shouted as I grabbed Lidelle’s sleeve and pulled her along with me.

All three of us jumped inside the mirror and it transported us to this other world of some sorts. I wasn’t sure where exactly it was taking us to, or what was waiting for us at the end. But hopefully it’s better than elemental fireball, loud explosions, rising lava, and giant meteors everywhere.

_And I probably just jinxed myself…_


	20. Reflected Assault

**Reflected Volcano Maze - Mustard Mountain**

 

Going through that mirror reminded me of when me and the other girls went through that portal to come to Dream Land a couple days ago. I was a little dizzy, but the trip through was even prettier than the last time. It was all crystal clear. Like I was actually looking into a mirror or something.

We eventually were shot out of the other end of the mirror realized that we were in yet another lava world. Only this one was a lot calmer than the other two we were in. the volcanos weren’t active, the lava didn’t move, and one thing that stood out was there were structures that broke the area into different branching pathways. Some had lava pouring from the brown rock walls and floors while others led into caves and even old abandoned temples. It was pretty interesting to look at, too say the least.

“W-Woah…wh-where are we, Amitie?” Lidelle asked me.

“I’m…not really sure, Lidelle. Hey, Bandana-Dee. You know what this place is?”

Bandana-Dee wrote on his board while looking around the place, then turned to show us what he wrote.

“ _This is Mustard Mountain. An area in a place called the Mirror World. Back in Dream Land are magic mirrors that take us to the 9 different areas here. They correspond to the area they’re on. In this case, the mirror we found took us here. Thought I didn’t there was one on Star Lavadom as well._ ”

“So this is basically another world?”

“ _In a way, yes._ ”

“I see.”

“So how are we supposed to find Raffina and the others?” Lidelle asked.

“ _The areas here are literally giant mazes. So we just choose a path and hope we get lucky._ ”

“ **Th-That doesn’t sound reassuring at all!** ” Lidelle started panicking.

“Don’t worry, Lidelle. We’ll make it out of here and find the others in no time flat.” I said.

“R-Really?”

“You betcha!”

“…”

“…Th-Thanks, Amitie.” Lidelle said after she managed to calm down. The three of us then started walking through this volcanic maze known as Mustard Mountain. We did end up going in circles a couple of times, but those were because of some insane puzzles that we couldn’t figure out at first, but eventually did. And they would take us to different paths. I was hopeful that they were the right paths, but there was no way to tell if some of them were right or not. About an hour and a half in, I noticed that Lidelle was staring at me. That’s when she asked me something.

“Hey, Amitie. Was part of your hair always light-pink?”

“N-No, it wasn’t. While we were on a different lava world, everyone pointed out that my hair had changed. I also got this weird new outfit on, too. I honestly have no idea how or why these changes happened. So we were on our way to a place called Another Dimension to hopefully figure it out. But that’s when…”

“…You ran into your clone, right?”

“Yeah, we did. She trapped us all into a portal and me and Bandana-Dee ended up on that other planet, where we found you.”

“Wow. That sounds horrible.”

Bandana-Dee then got Lidelle’s attention as he wrote on his board.

“ _Hey_ , _Lidelle. How did you end up on that other planet?_ ” He wrote.

“Um…well…I…honestly don’t really know. The last thing I remember was encountering this scary spider-looking guy. I tried talking to him, but I was so afraid that I ran off. And then…something happened, I don’t what, but then I was on that scary planet.”

“I see.” I said.

“ _By the way, that scary spider-looking guy is a friend of ours. His name is Taranza and was probably trying to help you._ ”

“A-A friend? Aw, geez. Now I feel really bad for running away from him.”

“It’s okay, Lidelle. Once we get out of here and find the others, you could apologize to him and everything will be fine.” I said.

“Y-Yeah. You’re right, Amitie. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, Lidelle.” I said with a smile. Cheering up Lidelle was always a daily thing of mine. I don’t really mind it, though. Seeing her cute smile always cheers me up when I’m down. Of course when I tell her that, she blushes like crazy. Making her even cuter.

 **_*giggle*_ ** _She’s just like a little sister. Despite us being the same age._

 

After about 30 more minutes, we reached this one narrow path with what looked like a bright light at the end of it.

“Is that…the exit?” I asked Bandana-Dee.

“ _It could be. Although I’m not really sure at this point._ ” He wrote.

“But it doesn’t look like we can go back either.” Lidelle said.

“Well, then…looks like we don’t have a choice. **Come on, you guys!** ” I shouted as I ran towards the light.

“ **W-Wait for me, Amitie!** ” Lidelle shouted as she and Bandana-Dee ran after me.

When we went through the light, we ended up in this crystalized colosseum with clouds all over. Some of these clouds even had other mirrors sitting on top of them.

“Woah…what is this place?” I asked.

“It’s really pretty.” Lidelle said.

“I know, right? I’m just glad this isn’t a lava world for once. I’m getting so tired of them.”

“I honestly don’t want to see any more lava for the rest of my life.”

“Ditto.” I said. Then we both giggled a bit. That’s when Bandana-Dee got our attention as he pointed to something in the distance. We walked up to it to get a better look at it and saw that it was a giant golden mirror with wings on each side and stars on each corner. It also had a crown on top of it, and it was sparkling really bright.

“Could…could this thing take us back to the others?” Lidelle asked.

“I’m…not really sure, Lidelle. But we really don’t have any other choices, huh Bandana-Dee?”

Bandana-Dee shook his head no, confirming my thoughts.

“Well, okay then. Let’s go…”

“ ** _STOP RIGHT THERE!!!_** ”

“Huh? Who said that?” I asked. Then I noticed that a magic circle appear under me. Due to past experiences, I knew what this meant. So I quickly moved out the way before a giant silver sword appeared from the ground. Several more circles appeared under me, and I dodged them all before the silver swords appeared from those as well.

“ **HEY! WHO’S DOING THAT?!** ” I shouted.

As I said that, a black twisty thingy appeared in front of us. It eventually revealed a dark gray person wearing bright red sabatons, black shoulder plates, and armored plates on the gloves he was wearing. I also noticed that he had bat-like wings that were torn up badly and his mask had some scrapes on it. But most noticeably was that fact he had a giant scar on the left side of the mask, which showed his pale yellow eyes that have an orange glow to them. His silver sword has seven branches of blades and has a blue sapphire embedded in its hilt. This guy looked all too powerful. It sent a huge chill down my spine.

“H-Hey…B-Bandana-Dee. W-Who is this guy?” I asked nervously.

Bandana-Dee was panicking a bit, but still managed to write down a response to my question.

“ _That’s Dark Meta Knight! He’s a mirrored version of a swordsman named Meta Knight! He’s extremely powerful with his sword and can even use mirror attacks!_ ”

“Aw, crud…” I said with some fear inside me. Lidelle didn’t say anything because she was hiding behind me with extreme fear.

“ _You’re Amitie, aren’t you?_ ” Dark Meta Knight asked me.

“Y-Yeah, I-I am. H-How do you know my name?”

“ _I’ve heard legends of you and that Red Puyo Hat of yours. To think something as worthless as a hat could hold so much power. No wonder it ditched you and stole your identity._ ”

“ **W-Wait! You know about my hat?!** ”

“ _Yes, I do. And I suppose you want to know as well, am I right?_ ”

“Y-Yeah. I do want to know.”

“ _I see…alright. I’ll tell you…_ ” Dark Meta Knight said. But then he pulled his silver sword out and pointed it at me in a threating way. “ _…But first, you must prove yourself to me that I’m not wasting my time on you invaders! **BATTLE ME, AMITIE! ONE ON ONE!**_ ”

“ **B-Battle you?!** ” I said in pure shock. I thought about this sudden requirement for a bit, not sure on what to do next. I figured that if I do this and somehow beat him, we could get out of this place and find the others. I didn’t want to think of what would happen if I lose, cause I know it’s a huge possibility.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” I said.

“ ** _Hmph._** _Like you had a choice._ ” Dark Meta Knight said.

“Hey, Bandana-Dee. Would you protect Lidelle for me please?”

Bandana-Dee gave a small nod and took Lidelle to the back of the area with him.

“G-Good luck, Amitie.” Lidelle said. I gave her a thumbs up and went back to the confrontation at hand.

“Alright…I’m ready when you are. Let’s…”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!** ” We both shouted as I started another one on one battle that could possibly end my life…

…again. 

**BOSS: Vs. Dark Meta Knight**

A group of puyos rained down from the bright cloudy sky in front of us. I started grabbing some and threw them into the right stack of colors to build up a chain to attack. I made it to a satisfying 5-chain before I set it off. As it did, I prepared to cast my first spell…

“ **FLAME!** ”

…

…

…But nothing happened.

“ **Huh?! What the heck?!** ” I shouted. The Puyo wall was shrinking with every Puyo being popped. So I tried again.

“ **FLAME!** ”

…

“ **CYCLOWHIRL!** ”

…

“ **FAERIE…fire?!** ”

…

…

“…Wha… **WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE DID MY MAGIC SPELLS GO?!** ”

“ **AMITIE! LOOK OUT!** ” Lidelle shouted at me.

I looked over to see that Dark Meta Knight had spawned three more giant silver swords pointed in my direction. They each had light blue fire around them and were extra sharp from before.

“ ** _TRIPLE THRUST!_** ” He said before shooting all three of them at me. The first one landed in front of me. The second one landed behind me. I was now stuck in between two swords as the third one was about to strike me.

_This is it. This is the end of me… **AGAIN!**_

As I sat there and accepted my fate, I got this sudden urge. A weird and unexplainable urge…to try and block it with my hand. The same hand that had my green wristband. I couldn’t fight against it, so I had my hand up as the sword came hurling towards me. I expected to have my hand bleeding like crazy and I would be screaming in pain…but…

***PING***

“Huh?”

I saw that the giant sword was on top of my hand…but it didn’t hurt. I felt no pain from a giant sword piercing my left hand. I thought it was weird, but then it got weirder.

The sword then started disappearing from my hand and started to enter my wristband. It glowed a bit while it changed colors from green to a turquoise color. It got me thinking of something, so I plucked a hair from the light-pink spot of my head and saw that it was also turquoise.

“W-Woah…wh-what just happened?” I asked myself.

“ _Now is not the time to ask questions, Amitie. The battle continues!_ ” Dark Meta Knight said to me.

“R-Right. Let’s go, then!”

I grabbed more puyos and started rebuilding my chain. I made it into a 7-chain just in case nothing happened again. Both me and Dark Meta Knight released our chains and started gaining power from the puyos. My wristband started glowing the same turquoise color from before as I felt a new power come to me.

“ ** _METEOR EDGE!_** ” Dark Meta Knight released his attack.

“ **REFLECT FORCE!** ” I shouted. Then a bunch of mirror-like objects came out of my left hand and deflected the attack. Not only that, but it also did damage to the dark swordsman.

“ **Woah! What was that?! What did I just do?!** ” I asked myself.

“ ** _BLADE BURST!_** ” A second attack was released by Dark Meta Knight. Four mirrors had appeared on each side of me. I knew more giant swords were about to come out of them…

“ **MIRROR BODY!** ”

…So I then started splitting into five, forming a vertical line upwards. Then went straight towards Dark Meta Knight using the same technique, which also did damage to him. And while he was stunned…

“ **MIRROR CUT!** ”

…I swung my left hand downward, making the sound of a mirror being broken as I slammed Dark Meta Knight to the ground below. After not moving for a few seconds, I knew that I had beaten Dark Meta Knight in a Puyo battle…with these strange new powers.

_What…just happened?_

 

“ _Grr…I lost. But at least you realized your true power. This battle was not a waste of time after all._ ”

“My…true power? What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“ _You’ll find that out on your own soon enough. You still have much to learn about them. As well as your Red Puyo Hat. But until then, you three are allowed to use this Dimensional Mirror to get back to Dream Land._ ”

“B-But…”

But before I could say anything else, Dark Meta Knight disappeared into that twisty thingy from before and he was nowhere to be seen.

“ _I hope we get to battle again, Amitie. Next time will be a real fight._ ” Was the last thing I heard from him.

…

…

I then starred at the wristband on my left arm. It was still turquoise, and so was that one part of my hair. I had no idea what these powers are or how I got them, but they did help me win that Puyo battle.

_But still, maybe Magolor knows something about all this._

“ **AMITIE!** ” I heard Lidelle’s voice as she and Bandana-Dee ran towards me. “ **AMITIE! WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!** ”

“I…I don’t know, Lidelle. But at least it’s over for now.”

“ _Dark Meta Knight said that this Dimensional Mirror thing can take us back to Dream Land. Should we go?_ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board.

“Yeah. I mean it’s the only way we could go at this point.”

“O-Okay, Amitie.” Lidelle stuttered.

The three of us then jumped into the mirror and entered yet another portal to who knows where. Hopefully, this time it’ll take us to our friends.

 

“ **WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!** ”

***THUD* *THUD* *THUD***

“Ow. My head. I’m getting real sick and tired of portals.” I said to myself as I stood up and rubbed my head in pain.

“ **AMITIE!!!** ”

“Huh? **Hey, guys!** ” I cheered once I saw Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Misuki, Kirby, Adeleine, Ribbon, and the others running up to me. With some of them giving me a hug.

“ **We finally found you, Ami! We’ve been looking all over for you!** ” Raffina cheered.

“ **And it looks like you found Lidelle, too!** ” Arle added.

“S-So it is true. E-Everyone is here.” Lidelle said as she took a look around the Lor Starcutter.

“So you were with Amitie the whole time, Dee?” Adeleine asked him.

“ _Yeah. Me and Amitie somehow ended up on Star Lavadom, where we found Lidelle. Then the three of us went through Mustard Mountain to get to the Mirror World._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote.

“ **You guys were all the way in Star Lavadom?!** ”

“Where’s Star Lavadom?” Misuki asked.

“ **It’s a completely different planet in our world!** ”

“ **A DIFFERENT PLANET?!** ” Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Misuki shouted.

“Yeah, we weren’t lucky at all when it came to that portal. Where did you guys end up?” I asked.

“We only got sent back to Green Greens. That copy of yours must’ve wanted to get rid of you personally.” Adeleine said.

“But how did Bandana-Dee end up being with you?” Ribbon asked.

“Not sure. I think I grabbed on to him without realizing it and accidentally brought him with me.”

“Well, in the end, that pretty much saved you a bunch.” Adeleine said.

“Yeah, I guess. But still, sorry for dragging you with me, Bandana-Dee.”

“ _It’s okay, Amitie. I was glad to help you out._ ” He wrote.

“By the way, Amitie. How come that part of your hair’s a different color now?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah. First it was light-pink and now it’s turquoise.” Arle added.

“Oh. About that. While we were in the Mirror world, I fought against this guy named Dark Meta Knight and during that and during that my hair and even my wristband changed colors. My old spells were gone and I was now using attacks that shot mini mirrors and made copies of me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a bit, Amitie. **Are you saying you FOUGHT Dark Meta Knight?! AND WON?!** ” Adeleine asked me.

“Yeah, I was shocked too. The guy looked and was pretty tough. Though at the end, he did say something about my Red Puyo Hat. And about how I realized my true power or something.”

“Old powers are gone…new attacks are mirror-based…it sounds so familiar.” Magolor said.

“So you do know something, Magolor?”

“Well…I’m not too sure. I’ll have to do some research on it. In the meantime, maybe we should all take a break. There was no way we were doing to do this in one day, anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Magolor.” Adeleine said.

“Aw…but I wanted to squish more puyos and use their powers to destroy my enemies.” Marx said.

***BONK***

“Ow! I swear to Nova, if you keep doing that…”

“Keep acting like how you are now and you’re gonna need more than Nova’s power when I’m through with you.” Adeleine said in a threating way.

_Wow, she really does not like Marx._

“Anyway, I’m to take a quick nap.” I said.

“Yeah, you definitely earned it, Ami.” Raffina said.

“Poyo!”

 I laid on the same bed I woke up in from the time I was almost dead and tried to sleep for a bit, but couldn’t. I had way too many thoughts in my mind. Not with just what happened to me these last few days, but with what’s going to happen to me next. I mean, I already nearly died, lost my spells, and got sent to a different planet. I know it’s bad luck to think of these things…

_…But what else is going to happen to me?_


	21. Copying the Star Warrior

20 minutes later…and I couldn’t sleep. Thinking of that last thought made my tiredness go away and now I was all jittery. So I just gave up on the whole nap idea and went back to join up with the others, who were lounging around doing their own thing while Magolor was trying to find an answer to my strange new power.

“Hey, Amitie. Finish your nap already?” Arle asked me.

“No, not really. As soon as I laid down, I started thinking of some thoughts and couldn’t sleep afterwards.”

“What thoughts were those?” Ringo asked.

…

…

“ _…W-Well…_ ” I started becoming unsure with myself.

“Ami. You can tell us. We’re your friends.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, Raffina’s right. You can definitely tell us what’s been on your mind.” Misuki added.

…

“…W-Well…o-okay.” I said. “I started thinking about all the stuff that’s happened to me so far. Nearly dying, losing my spells, getting sent to a different planet…then I started thinking about what else could happen to me. And thus, losing the feeling of taking a nap.”

“W-Wow.” Was all they could say.

“ _sigh._ I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to be all negative about it.”

“N-No, Ami. It’s fine. In fact, you don't have to worry about anything.” Misuki said.

“Witch is right, Amitie. When we decided to come to Dream Land with you and Kirby, we wanted to help in any way we can.” Arle said.

“And that’s exactly what we’re going to do!” Raffina yelled boldly.

“That’s right!” Ringo cheered.

“I don’t know the whole story that much, but you can surely count on me, Amitie.” Maguro said.

“Same for me, Amitie. I won’t let you down.” Lidelle said.

“Th-Thanks, you guys.” I said while trying to hold in my tears of joy.

“You sure have some good friends, Amitie.” Adeleine said as she, Ribbon, Bandana-Dee, and Kirby walked up to us.

“Yeah. I really do. Not just in my world, but here in Dream Land as well.”

“R-Really? You think of us as…friends?”

“Even though we’ll eventually part ways forever?” Ribbon asked.

“Of course! Just because we’ll be in different worlds, doesn’t mean we’ll stop being friends! We’re best friends forever!”

“W-Wow, Amitie. That was nice of you to say. Thank you for that.” Adeleine was trying to hold in her tears as well.

Ribbon, on the other hand…

“ **WAAAAAAAA!!! So sweet of you, Amitie! I’ll be your best friend forever too! WAAAHAAAHAAA!!!** ”

“I-It’s okay, Ribbon. Y-You don’t have to cry.” I said, trying to calm her down.

“And I’m sure Dee is grateful for that speech right, Dee?” Adeleine asked Bandana-Dee, who replied with a simple nod.

“Kirby…will you be my best buddy forever and ever?” I asked him.

“ **Poyo poyo!** ”

“ **Thanks, little buddy! I knew I could count on you!** ” I cheered.

“ **Poyo!** ”

“ **Yes! I’ve figured it out!** ” Magolor said while at his giant computer.

“Really? You have?” Adeleine asked.

“Yep. It took a while, but I can finally explain Amitie’s new power.”

“Great! So what is it?” I asked.

“Allow me to explain. First off, Adeleine could you draw a water creature for me please?”

“A water creature?”

“You’ll see.”

“Uh…okay.”

Adeleine then brought out her easel and started painting something that’s supposed to use water for something. It looked like a limbless dragon with light blue skin, a white underbelly, a jagged mouth, and blue spikes running along its back.

“Okay, finished.” Adeleine said as she stepped away from the easel. And after a few seconds…

***POP***

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **Wh-What is that thing?!** ” Ringo asked in fear for her life.

“I drew a Water Galbo. It was the first thing that came to mind when thinking of a water creature.”

“I-It’s actually kinda cute.” Lidelle said.

“You think **THAT’S** cute?” Arle asked.

“Alright, Kirby. You know what to do.” Magolor said to him.

“Poyo!”

Kirby then walked up to the thing and inhaled the thing whole into his mouth…

…

…

_…Wait, what did I just say?! What did Kirby just do?!_

…A-Anyway, once Kirby did… ** _that_** , he started glowing and soon after that, he had gained a yellow tiara on his head that was holding a vortex of water.

“Whoa…nice hat, Kirby.” Maguro said.

“Poyo.”

“Now finally, Kirby just shoot a blob of water at Amitie.” Magolor said.

“ **Wait, WHAT?!** ” I shouted.

“Hold on. While that happens, hold out your left arm in front of you.”

“Huh?”

“Again, you’ll see.”

“Uh…okay.”

I did as Magolor said and held out my arm in front of me. Kirby then shot out a blob of water at me. I was expecting to be soaking wet afterwards, but that didn’t happen.

Instead…I absorbed the water. Every last drop…with my left hand, which then started to glow on its own. After a few seconds, the glowing stopped. And I noticed that my wristband was now blue and made of water.

“Whoa…wha…what just happened?” I asked as I continued to stare at my wristband.

“Ami! You’re hair!” Raffina said. She then gave me her pocket mirror and I took at my hair. The same part that was once pink and turquoise, was now blue.

“ **Wha! Now it’s blue! My hair is blue now!** ”

“Magolor, just what is going on?!” Misuki asked him.

“Well, first off, Kirby’s power. What he has is a special power known as a Copy Ability. With this power, Kirby can copy any power an enemy throws at him, and use them to his advantage.”

“Wow! That’s some power, Kirby!” Arle said.

“Poyo!”

“But what does that have to do with Amitie?” Ringo asked.

“Well, when Kirby shot that water blob, Amitie absorbed it like how he inhaled that enemy. Therefore…”

I then started putting two and two together.

“Wait…are you saying…that **I** have this Copy Ability?!” I asked.

“Well, let’s test it. Watch Kirby do some moves and see if you can replicate them.”

“Okay, I’ll try. Ready when you are, Kirby.”

“Poyo.”

Kirby then shot another blob of water out from his mouth. It traveled on the floor and eventually disappeared on its own. I knew I couldn’t do that with my mouth, so I tried it my left hand.

“ **WAVE ATTACK!** ” I shouted as I shot a blob of water from my hand. It traveled on the floor like Kirby’s, and then disappeared the exact same way.

“Whoa!” Everyone said.

Kirby then projected a column of water straight up to the ceiling with his water tiara. With me not having a water tiara, I raised my left hand in the air and tried to replicate the move.

“ **GEYSER!** ” I shouted as I did the exact same move as Kirby.

“Wow!” Everyone said.

And then Kirby did a move in which he crouched and then projected a sphere of water around him and ends with a rainbow flourish. It was very pretty to watch, so I tried to do it myself.

“ **RAINBOW RAIN!** ” I shouted as I did the move. A small rainbow appeared above my head after I did it.

“Pretty!” I heard everyone said.

“Wow! I did every single move! I really do have the Copy Ability!” I cheered.

“That’s great, Amitie!” Lidelle said.

“But how did she get such a cool power?” Arle asked.

“That, I’m not sure.” Magolor said. “Maybe what’s there in Another Dimension can explain everything.”

“I see. So my powers are now based on water? Is that it?” I asked.

“Well, no. You see, unlike Kirby, you can actually store abilities in your wristband.”

“Huh? My wristband?”

“What you currently have now is the Water ability. And the one you used to beat Dark Meta Knight is called the Mirror ability.”

“Mirror? You know now it makes sense with the attacks I was doing.”

“To switch between your currents abilities, just yell out the name of the ability you want to use.”

“Yell it out, huh? Okay.”

I looked at my wristband for a little bit then raised my arm in the air as I tried this new piece of info I got.

“ **MIRROR!** ” I shouted. I glowed for a bit, then looked back at my wristband to see that it was the same turquoise color from before. I even looked at my hair with the pocket mirror and saw that my hair was the same color too.

“Whoa…so cool!” I said.

“And that’s all I got from it.” Magolor said, concluding his explanation.

“So Amitie can use Copy Abilities just like Kirby. That’s pretty sweet.” Adeleine said.

“It really is, actually.” Ribbon added.

“So what can the Mirror ability do, Ami?” Raffina asked.

“Well…I do remember a few moves.” I said while thinking of what to show first.

 “ **REFLECT FORCE!** ” I shouted as a bunch of the mirror-like objects from before came out of my left hand.

“Whoa!” Everyone shouted.

“Is there more?” Misuki asked.

“Well…”

_What was that second one, again? Oh yeah! I remember!_

“ **MIRROR BODY!** ” I shouted. I then split into two. One copy went in one direction while the other went in the opposite direction. I then became one whole again. I did the attack again and then started splitting into five, forming a vertical line upwards. After doing the attack a third time, I ended up splitting into seven. I felt the original me in the center while six other copies circled around me. I once more became whole again after that.

“ **Whoa! Amitie, these abilities are amazing!** ” Ringo shouted.

“Yeah, they are. I can get used to this!” I said with glee.

“Well enjoy to your heart’s content, Amitie.” Magolor said.

“Oh, yeah! I will!”

“Now with that out the way, let’s get back to business, shall we?”

“Right. We still have to get to Dangerous Dinner.” Adeleine said.

“ **D-Dangerous Dinner?! Wh-What kind of name is that?!** ” Lidelle asked, having the same reaction as the rest of us visitors had when we first heard the name.

“It’s a questionable one, to say the least.”

“Well, alrighty then! Let’s go!” I cheered.

“ **Yeah!** ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“Everyone hang on! And… **LIFT OFF!** ” Magolor said.

The Lor Starcutter rose up off the ground and started flying through the sky, traveling really fast up to space as we finally made our way to…

_…That uncomfortably named, potentially deadly area._

_Fiddlesticks._


	22. Unidentified Fighting Object

It took us quite a while to make this trip, as this place was on a completely different planet. I think it took us about 5-6 hours or so. I couldn’t really tell if it was day or night outside because we were in space.

_Come to think of it, was it **EVER** nighttime here?_

A-Anyway…we soon gained a view of a really big volcanic planet. As we got closer to land, we saw that there were many mechanical facilities and very few plants. But what caught our eyes was a giant active volcano dead center of it all.

“Welcome to Halcandra, my home planet! We should be landing in a few minutes now.” Magolor said.

“Wait…home planet? Magolor, you **LIVED** here at one point?” Misuki asked.

“Well, he says that…but we’re not actually sure if that’s true or not.” Adeleine said.

“It is true.” Magolor said.

“Really? Then how come you got shot down twice while trying to get the Master Crown from Landia?”

“H-How do you know all these things?”

“Kirby told me.”

“Poyo.”

“R-Right. Of course.”

“Who’s Landia?” I asked.

“Landia is a four-headed dragon that lives here. It’s said that he’s the guardian of these legendary treasures that these people called “The Ancients” made a long time ago.” Adeleine explained.

“Wh-What?! A-A four-headed dragon?!” Lidelle stuttered in fear.

“ **That’s SO cool!!!** ” Arle shouted.

“What?! How is that cool?!”

“This is coming from the girl who thought that Water Galbo thing was cute.”

“Well, it was.”

“Anyway, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll run into him again. Which is why I’m dropping you guys off halfway.” Magolor said.

“ **What?! How come?!** ” Us otherworlders complained.

“W-Well…me and Landia…don’t really get along that well.”

“And by that, he means Landia completely hates him.” Adeleine added.

“Huh? Hates him? What did you do, Magolor?” Misuki asked her longtime friend.

“Um…well…”

“What he did was he got Kirby to fight Landia, making him believe that he was on a rampage. But in truth, he tricked him into doing it so that he could steal the Master Crown and use it to take over the universe.” Adeleine explained.

…

…

“R-Really?” Was all Misuki was able to say.

“I’ve gotten a bit…power-hungry since we last saw each other.”

_A bit?!_

“And, uh…there’s more to it.”

“There’s _more?_ ” Adeleine asked.

“I, uh…well, kind of…stole the Lor Starcutter.”

“ **YOU STOLE THE LOR STARCUTTER?!** ” We all shouted.

“ **Seriously, just what is wrong with you?!** ” Adeleine asked.

“I’m sorry, okay? I wasn’t…thinking straight when I did those things. But now you know why I can’t go near Landia.”

“Yeah okay, Magolor. We get it.” Misuki said.

Not too long after finding out about Magolor’s past, we landed near the entrance of a cave that had a source of light coming from somewhere inside. We got off and looked around the cave to see where we supposed to go.

“To the end of this cave is the entrance to Dangerous Dinner. Just keep following the light and you’ll get there.” Magolor said.

“Thanks, Magolor.” I said. “Is everyone ready?”

“Wait, aren’t we missing a few people?” Ringo asked.

“Taranza went back to see if the others needed help with clearing puyos. We’ll meet back with him soon.” Adeleine said.

“I see.”

We then saw that Gooey was also gone. He eventually came to the entrance of the ship, but didn’t come off for some reason.

“Hey, Gooey. Aren’t you coming?” Raffina asked. To which Gooey replied by shaking his head(?).

“About that. You see, Dangerous Dinner is said to be the hottest place in the universe. It’ll be too hot for Gooey to handle, so he’s staying behind.” Adeleine said.

“Wow. That hot, huh?” Maguro asked.

“It makes me think if I should change out this sweater.” Lidelle said.

“I’ve got extra t-shirts with me if want to change.” Misuki said.

“Sure, okay.”

“Hey, Witch. Got anything for me?” Raffina asked.

“Sure. I’ve got plenty.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Okay, so that’s two. What happened to Marx?” I asked.

“Marx is…wait.” Adeleine looked around the area to make sure what I was true. And when it was, she didn’t look happy.

“ **Dang it! Where did that troublemaker run off to?!** ”

“Frankly, I don’t care where Marx went. I’m just glad he’s out of our hair.” Raffina said.

“Amen to that.” Adeleine agreed.

_So that’s two people who don’t like Marx._

“But no matter. At the end of Dangerous Dinner is the entrance to Another Dimension. Once we get there, we’ll figure something out okay, Amitie?”

“Sure. Whatever you say, Adeleine.” I said.

With our party down by three, the 11 of us started walking through the cave. Raffina and Lidelle did change out of their clothes and into something more comfortable. They both had t-shirts that were similar to each other, each bearing a big star on the bottom left corner and a little star underneath that. Raffina kept her mini-skirt on, while Lidelle changed into a pair of black shorts.

I honestly couldn’t stop staring at Raffina. Her outfit was just so cute. It was definitely a sight to behold.

“What?” Raffina asked me.

“Nothing. It’s just I really like your new outfit.”

“Y-You do?”

“Yeah. It really makes you look cute.”

“C-Cute?!” Raffina started blushing.

“Yep. Really cute. Way better than what you wore before. To be honest, it was kinda ugly.”

“I’ll hit you.” Raffina sounded insulted.

“Sorry, sorry. But I really do mean it when I said you looked cute.”

“Th-Thanks, Ami. A-And I really do think your new outfit is cute, too. Despite it being linked to a cool power and all…” Raffina started sounded sad due to being reminded again of how she has no magic powers.

I really did feel bad for her. Being the only person in town to be powerless, and forced to watch us practice ours. If there was a way for her to get powers of her own, I would do it in a heartbeat. But until then…

…All I could do was just hug her out of compassion.

After a few more minutes of walking, we reached this strange door that three stars on top of it. The doorway itself was just nothing but a bright white light, so we couldn’t see what was on the other side. But we all had a pretty good idea where it would take us.

“So Dangerous Dinner is through this door, huh?” Ringo asked.

“Yep. Right through here.” Ribbon said.

“We sure went through a lot to get here.” Arle said.

“Some may call it a bit too much.” Adeleine said.

“But yet, here we are.” Misuki said.

I then felt my hand being grabbed and I turned to see that it was Raffina that was doing it.

“You ready, Ami?” She said to me with a confident grin on her face.

“Ready, Raffina.” I said with the exact same look.

“Poyo poyo.”

“I’m with you all the way, little buddy.” I said to Kirby.

We all then stepped foot into the door, eager to see what was awaiting us on the other side.

**Dark Volcano World - Dangerous Dinner**

 

The door lead us to what I thought was a deeper part of the cave. I had no idea what Dangerous Dinner would look like, so I had the assumption that it was just yet another lava area with volcanos and lava like with the other three.

When I was able to get a good view of this place, I could only describe it as one word…

Hell.

The sky was non-existent. Instead, there was this dark ominous coloring surrounding us. There was light, but it was coming from this giant blistering core in the center of this place.

There was small yellow-ish smoke-like fog around the sky. When it passed through us, it felt really warm. Sometimes burning hot. It would touch my skin and I would twitch a little due to the burns it would cause.

The ground was a mixture of rocks and molten lava all over. And the temperature here was unbearable. Adeleine wasn’t kidding when she said that this was the hottest place in this universe. No wonder Gooey stayed behind.

But the one thing we all noticed, and it was a big one, was the fact that there were giant suns all over the place. Some stayed in place, others shifted back and forth, and then there were some that were falling from the dark ominous colored sky. They broke some weak parts of the ground and then kept falling.

To where…I honestly had no idea.

“N-No way…” Arle said.

“Th-This is…i-insane.” Lidelle said.

“S-So this is…”

“…Dangerous Dinner?” Me and Raffina asked.

“Yep. This is it. The one and only.” Adeleine replied.

“Woah. I can see how this place got its name.” Misuki said.

“Yeah, no kidding. You sure you’ll be okay, Ringo?” Maguro asked.

“Uh…y-yeah. I-I’ll be fine. Th-Thanks…Maguro.” Ringo stuttered a bit.

***BANG***

“ **What was that?!** ” Ribbon asked.

The dark sky suddenly got darker as clouds started forming. Then it started raining puyos from the sky. Most of them ended up in the bottomless pits the giant suns created, but the fact that they were here was still a problem.

“Unbelievable! The Puyos reached Halcandra too?!” Adeleine asked in shock.

“Could a Puyo Soul be all the way out here, too?” Raffina asked.

“And if so, how and/or who brought it here?” I asked.

“Well, we’re not going to find out by just standing here.” Arle said.

“Arle’s right. Our only option is to head for the top. We can get a better view of the situation, and the entrance to Another Dimension is there.” Adeleine said.

“Alrighty then. Let’s get going.” I said.

As we made our way to the top of this hell-like area, we cleared up the Puyos that survived the storm by missing the giant suns or avoiding the bottomless pits. The extreme heat from this place made it harder than usual, and some of the giant suns were a pain to get through. but we managed to do it. And soon we all made it to the top of Dangerous Dinner. The view was…okay. In its own right. I mean, we were able to see the entire blistering core in the center. And the giant suns everywhere made it really amazing to look at.

“You know, despite the name, this place looks pretty cool.” I said.

“I know, right? I’m shocked myself.” Raffina said.

“ **Guys! Look!** ” Misuki yelled as she pointed at something with her broom. It was on a single platform surrounded by a bunch of mini-suns. These mini-suns were glowing a red aura…and I recognized that red aura.

“ **It’s a Puyo Soul!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **Not only that, but it’s the Red Puyo Soul from before!** ” Adeleine added.

“I think your clone must’ve brought it here, Amitie.” Lidelle said.

“Well, I don’t see her around…I’m gonna go get it.” I said as I ran towards the Puyo Soul.

“ **Poyo! Poyo poyo!** ” Kirby shouted.

“Huh?! What did you sa…”

***BANG***

“ **WAH!** ” I shouted as a bolt of electricity shot down and nearly hit me from what seemed like out of nowhere.

“ **Wh-What was that?!** ”

“ **Ami, look out!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **WAH!** ”

***BANG***

***BANG***

***BANG***

With the help of Kirby, I was able to dodge three more bolts of electricity that were aimed at me.

“Thanks, little buddy.”

“Poyo.”

“But now… **WHO KEEPS DOING THAT?!** ”

Right after I shouted that, a ball of electricity came down and started floating in front of us. It soon depleted and it revealed a weird gray spaceship with eyes and a broken antenna. And it looked rather mad too.

“Oh, great. It’s Dubior.” Adeleine said sarcastically.

“Dubior? You mean this thing has a name?” Misuki asked.

“Yeah. Dubior is another one of those Demon Beasts we told you about. Much like Gigant Edge.”

“Another Demon Beast? That’s fine. We’ll just have to hit it a few times and he’s done, right?” Arle asked.

“Well…you would think, but no.”

“Huh?” Us visitors asked.

“Well, unlike the other ones, Dubior’s really strong and fast. He uses electricity for his attacks.” Ribbon explained.

“ _Plus, he’s not from Popstar. He lives here on Halcandra and often comes to our planet to cause trouble._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board.

“Wow. So this thing’s a real jerk, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Cho emri dolpc folo ulo iea, vremjyuo!”

…

…

“What?”

_This thing…it just talked, right? I can’t really tell._

“Oh, yeah. Dubior has his own language that no one can understand. It’s rather confusing and it just annoys us.” Adeleine said.

“His own language?” I thought about this new information I got, and I quickly got an idea.

“Hey, Lidelle. Do you think you can translate what he’s saying?”

“Uh…I guess I could try.” Lidelle said.

“Wait, what?” Adeleine, Ribbon, and even Bandana-Dee were confused.

“Well, you see…Lidelle has this weird yet cool talent. She can understand every language that’s known to exist. And she can translate it into English too.” I explained.

“Wow. Really? How’d she learned to do that?” Adeleine asked.

“We honestly have no idea.” We all said.

“I see…”

“I got it now.” Lidelle said. “So what he said earlier was: _The only jerks here are you, blondie!_ ”

“Huh?! How are we jerks?! And don’t call me blondie!” I shouted.

“Jem'g tyubo no chug! YU coo lyutfg chleatf iea seankc! Iea umja kyumpi ebol cholo ulo gliot geh gupo ni usyumi lesp uquui hlen no!”

“ _Don't give me that! I see right through you chumps! You and pinky over there are trying to take my shiny rock away from me!_ ” Lidelle translated.

“That’s not a shiny rock, you idiot! That’s a Puyo Soul!” Adeleine yelled.

“Kaieh Cear? Quoug cho fosp yuc chug? Quora, quougobol. YU jem'g sulo quoug chyuc chot yuc, iea'lo meg fubot yug! YU heamja yug, ceh yug'c nyumo! Vusp ehh, kyumpi! Umja gupo vremjyuo umja ieal ummeiot hlyuomjc quyuch iea! Urcheatf chyuc tuloom tyulr yuc myuso. Yug'c teeja geh fubo cenoemo glumcrugo ni rumtauto hel emso.”

“ _Puyo Soul? What the heck is that? Well, whatever. I don't care what this thing is, you're not having it! I found it, so it's mine! Back off, pinky! And take blondie and your annoying friends with you! Although this green girl is nice. It's good to have someone translate my language for once._ ”

“ **Grrr!** I never would’ve thought that Dubior was such a stubborn piece of scrap!” Adeleine started getting irritated.

“Same here! I’m ready to turn this thing into a pile of junk!” Raffina yelled.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo.” Kirby said to me.

“Yeah. I’m getting the same feeling too, little buddy.” I said to him. “Raffina! Adeleine! Me and Kirby will help you out.”

“Thanks, Ami.” Raffina said.

“I could always count on you, Kirby.” Adeleine said.

_These two have a lot more in common than we thought…_

“Iea'lo colyueacri teot geh hyutfg no hel **NI** usyumi lesp? Umja iog, iea sura no cgavvelm. Hyumo! Ceh vo yug! Emso YU voug iea yumbujolc, Yu'ra comja iea ura vusp geh quoolo obol iea suno hlen!”

“ _You're seriously going to fight me for **MY** shiny rock? And yet, you call me stubborn. Fine! So be it! Once I beat you invaders, I'll send you all back to where ever you came from!_ ”

“Let’s…”

“ **KAIEH VUGGRO!** ”

“ ** _PUYO BATTLE!_** ”

 

  **BOSS: Vs. Dubior**

 

As a bunch of puyos started falling down, I kept thinking to myself…

_How is a UFO supposed to play Puyo?_

Then before I knew it, Dubior had a bunch of Puyo flying around him. They had electric charges on them, and they all stacked on their own.

_I guess that’s how._

“Hold on, guys! We’re almost done!” Arle yelled as she and the others were building up a chain.

Meanwhile, Dubior was nearly finished with his. And for a UFO, he was pretty good. From the looks of it, he already had the max 15-chain ready to go. If the others don’t hurry, I’m not sure we’ll make it out uninjured this time.

“ **AND FINISH! SET OFF!** ” Arle said as she set off the chain. I soon felt the power from the popped puyos rushing through my body. And with my new Copy Ability, I felt stronger than ever before.

“Ready, guys?” Adeleine asked.

“I’m more than ready!” Raffina shouted.

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

“Huh? Change to Water? Are you sure Kirby?” I asked him.

“Poyo poyo! Poyo p-poyo poyo! Poyo!”

“The Elemental Circle?”

“Oh, yeah! I’ve heard of it!” Ringo said as she ran up to us. “It’s a diagram of how the four elements work against each out. It usually goes like this:

Water beats Fire, but Fire beats Water

Fire beats Ice, but Ice beats Fire

Water beats Electric, but Electric beats Water

Kinda like that.”

…

…

“You lost me.” I said.

_I swear, Ringo’s too smart for her own good._

“Basically, you have a 50/50 chance of beating Dubior if you use your Water powers.”

“50/50? Is that even worth it?”

“If Kirby says it’s fine, then shouldn’t you trust him?”

I then looked at Kirby, who gave me a tilted head look as I thought about this Elemental Circle thing.

_50/50 does seem fair…but what if it goes against me? Pretty sure being electrocuted will hurt…but…then again…if it works…_

“Alright. I’ll do it, Kirby! I’ll use Water!”

“Poyo!”

I raised my left arm in the air and made a fist with my left hand.

“ **WATER!** ”

My wristband began to glow as it started changing to its blue watery form. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew that spot on my hair was blue as well. Signaling that I was currently using the Water Ability.

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

“Hi-five? Alrighty, little buddy.”

I gave Kirby a hi-five and then he started glowing on his own. He soon had his Water tiara on his head and stopped glowing as he stood next to me.

“Woah! How’d that happened?!”

“Poyo poyo!”

“Right. Bad time. Okay, I’m ready now!”

We each shot our first attacks…

 “ **NEIGE!** ”

“ **BRUSH SLASH!** ”

“ **WAVE ATTACK!** ”

…But they all missed. When Ribbon said that Dubior was fast, she wasn’t kidding. The guy was zipping all over the place dodging our attacks.

“Fu! Iea nyuaisoja!”

“ _Ha! You missed!_ ” Lidelle translated.

Dubior then used his broken antenna to spawn 4 of these tiny spaceships that kinda looked like him and shot them at us. Each one aiming for one of us.

We dodged all four of them, but didn’t notice how he had gained an electric barrier around himself and was speeding towards us.

“ **GAH! He just combo’d us!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **I know! And he does this all the time! Such a cheater!** ” Adeleine shouted.

_Ah, geez! What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!_

As Dubior was getting closer to us, I started panicking in my head. I was still new to this Copy Ability thing, so I didn’t know how to abuse this power like I did with my old spells. All I could think of was to try to use Water again.

“ **WAVE ATTACK!** ” I tried again, this time while closing my eyes because of the whole Elemental Circle thing in my mind.

Once I did, I started hearing some kind of static near me. I opened my eyes to see that Dubior was short-circuiting due to being splashed by water.

In my mind, I was happy…but mostly relieved. I couldn’t believe that the odds were in my favor. I mean, it was 50/50, so there was an equal chance of me getting electrocuted. But I was shocked to not have that happen.

That pun wasn’t intentional, by the way.

“F-Foi! Quoug jyuja iea jeh ieh no?! YU sum'g nebo!”

“He said he can’t move!” Lidelle said.

“Whoa! It actually worked!” Raffina shouted.

“Guys! Do you think you could hit Dubior again?” Adeleine asked us.

“H-Huh?! Y-You want me to do that **AGAIN?!** ” I asked.

“It’s only until we get enough power. Please, Amitie?”

I wasn’t too sure about this. Sure it worked the first time, but what if this time it doesn’t? Thanks to Ringo and her Elemental Circle thing, I have all these worries in my head. I’m not sure what to do about it.

But in this case…I don’t really have a choice.

“ _sigh._ Alright.” I gave in to this plan.

“Thanks, Amitie.”

“Alright, Kirby. You ready?”

“Poyo!”

“Okay. And… **WAVE ATTACK!** ”

We both shot another blob of water at the paralyzed UFO and it made him short-circuit even more. He kept zipping around all over the place as now he couldn’t control his movement patterns.

While I was once again shocked that I didn’t get electrocuted again.

Again. Not intentional.

“W-Woah.” Was all I could say.

“Thanks, Ami! We got it from here!” Raffina cheered. She and Adeleine were all charged up and were rushing towards Dubior to deal the final blow.

“ **CEIL ARK!** ”

“ **PAINTBRUSH!** ” With Adeleine, her paintbrush grew to three times its normal size. Then, along with Raffina’s signature kick, slashed her brush three times at Dubior. Getting tons of paint on him, and pretty much everywhere else.

The impact did so much damage. It sent Dubior flying a bit, hitting a few mini-suns before coming back to our level with lights coming out of him.

He was about to explode. But before he did, he say something…

“ **MEEEEH! YU RECG! Umja mequ YU reco ni usyumi lesp! Utf! Yu'ra tog iea hel chyuc, kyumpi! Umja iea geeh, vremjyuo!** ”

…But before Lidelle could translate, Dubior had exploded into tiny bits. With his part scattered all over the place.

_Geez. All this over a shiny rock…I-I mean Puyo Soul._

 

“Alright! We won!” Raffina and Adeleine cheered.

“Poyo!”

“Nice work, you guys!” Arle cheered.

“Sorry if I confused you with that explanation, Amitie.” Ringo said to me.

…

…

“Amitie?”

But I wasn’t listening. Instead, I was staring at this thing that popped out when Dubior exploded. It was a light-green star with electric bolts on it. It was floating on its own in mid-air, and had a light-green glow around it.

“What…is that thing?” Ringo asked once she figured out what I was staring at.

“Hey! That’s the Plasma Ability!” Adeleine said.

“Plasma? There’s a Plasma Ability?”

“Yeah. With that, you can charge up electricity and use it to fire a projectile based on how much power you had. It’s a really useful power.”

“Woah! That is cool! You think you can use it, Amitie?” Arle asked me.

“Well…I could try. But how do I get it?”

“I think Magolor said you had to absorb it with your left hand.” Misuki said.

“That’s it? Okay, I’ll try.”

I went over to the floating star and placed my left hand on it. Both it and my hand started glowing. And soon after, the star was gone…but now my wristband was light-green and had electric sparks around it. Just to make sure, I plucked a piece of my hair from the middle part and saw that it was light-green as well.

I now had the Plasma Ability.

“Woah…i-it worked!” I said.

“Try using it, Ami.” Raffina said.

“Okay.”

As I was told, I charged up some power and felt the electric bolts rushing through me. It actually tickled a lot. So much that I had a giant electrical barrier around me.

“Woah! Now what do I do?!” I asked.

“Just shoot it somewhere.” Adeleine said.

I looked around for a place to shoot at, and decided to aim it at the mini-suns that where blocking the Puyo Soul. I placed both hands in front of me and…

“ **PLASMA WAVE!** ”

…Shot a huge electric sphere at them. Blowing the mini-suns out of the way and revealing the Puyo Soul to us.

“ **WOAH!!!** ” Everyone shouted.

“See? Didn’t I tell you it’s a useful power?” Adeleine asked.

“Yeah, you were right, Adeleine! This Plasma Ability is awesome!” I cheered.

“So now not only did Ami get a new power, but we also got the second Puyo Soul!” Misuki cheered.

“ **YEAH!** ”

“ **POYO!** ”

Me and Raffina went and grabbed the Red Puyo Soul and carried it as we now made our way to the entrance to Another Dimension.

_Geez. I forgot how heavy these things are._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to write this. Midway of writing a chapter for Fever, I lost any motivation to write anything Puyo related. But after a few days, said motivation came back. So nothing to worry about now.


	23. Secret Soul

As we started carrying the Red Puyo Soul back the way we came, we saw the Lor Starcutter flying our way and landed right in front of us.

“Hey, guys. Looks like you got the second Puyo Soul.” Magolor said. Gooey was next to him waving his tongue at us, as his way of saying “hello”.

“Yeah. And for real this time.” Raffina said.

“We had to fight Dubior in order to get it.” Adeleine added.

“Dubior? How did he get it?”

“Apparently, he just found the _shiny rock_ lying around. And he was really stubborn about handing it over."

“Shiny rock?”

“That’s what he kept calling it.” Ringo said.

“Wait, you understood what he was saying?”

“Well, not all of us. Just Lidelle.”

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, I have a special talent where I can understand any language that’s ever known. It really comes in handy.” Lidelle said while rubbing the back of her head and praising herself.

“I see. That’s pretty impressive, Lidelle.”

“Uh…hey, guys. Do you think we can hurry this up? This thing’s really heavy.” I said.

"Oh, right. Of course. Step on board and we'll head over to the entrance."

“ **Yes! Finally!** ”

I was truly excited. We were finally going to go Another Dimension, and I was finally going to learn the secrets of my Red Puyo Hat. Why did it turn into a copy of me? Why did it try to destroy me twice already? Why does it not want us to collect the Puyo Souls? And more importantly…

…

…Just what is it planning?

We all got on the ship and me and Raffina placed the Red Puyo Soul next to the Green one. We both then joined up with the others as Magolor was making preparations for the trip.

“Alright. That should do it. Is everyone ready to go?” Magolor asked.

“Um…w-well…” I stuttered.

“What’s wrong, Ami?” Misuki asked me.

“Well…it’s just…I’m about to learn some of the deepest and possibly darkest secrets about my life. That hat is…or was…a huge part of me. What if I learn something that I wasn’t supposed to know? Or maybe that I didn’t need to know? This is like a huge step into my life…and honestly, I’m a little scared.”

“I understand how you feel, Amitie.” Arle said. “When I found out that there were multiple doppelgängers of me roaming around my world, I didn’t know what to think. I was lost, confused, and I felt like I didn’t know myself at all. I started questioning everything about my life, including my existence. But I didn’t let it get me down. I used that revealed secret to my advantage and went on to be not only a great and powerful magic user, but to be the one true Arle Nadja.”

What Arle said really affected me. To think she went through such an event in her life that made her question her existence, and she got over that and kept going. It truly inspired me. Inspired me enough to continue on with my curiousness for my hat. I want to know its secrets so that I can use them to finally achieve my dream.

To become a wonderful magician.

“Thanks, Arle. That really helped.” I said.

“No problem, Amitie. Just helping out a friend.” Arle replied with a smile.

“ **Alrighty then! Let’s get going!** ”

“ **Poyo poyo!** ” Kirby cheered with me.

“Alright! Everyone hang on!” Magolor said.

And with a push of a button, the Lor Starcutter lifted back into the air and started flying through the sky. Midway through, it shot some kind of laser ahead and it formed the star-shaped portal we took to first come to Dream Land. We went inside the portal and traveled through the same galaxy-likeness to get to Another Dimension.

The place of my secrets.

 

**Edge of the Universe - Another Dimension**

 

We soon came out the portal and all around us was just deep blue space. We could see silhouettes of other areas in Dream Land. Most of them were ones we haven’t been to yet.

We had to fly around these purple and yellow-ish walls and floors and some had these weird creatures on them. There were green ones that rested on the floors and walls, small winged purple ones that swarmed in groups, and bigger red-winged ones that shot energy balls at us. Dodging those made the ride a bit shaky, and I was feeling a bit nauseous.

But as I started regaining myself, I noticed something about these things…

“Hey, guys. Don’t these things look familiar?” I asked.

“You know now that I look at them, they kinda do.” Arle said.

“You guys see it too, right?” I asked Ringo and Raffina.

“Yeah, I see it too.” Ringo said.

“They definitely look familiar.” Raffina said.

“Well, that’s because these things are called Doomers.” Adeleine said.

“Doomers?” The four of us said.

“They live here in Another Dimension. And the reason they look so familiar is because of the one you saw when you guys first came here.”

I had to think about it for a second. It’s been kinda a while since we’ve came to Dream Land. A couple days, to be exact. But I did remember that day. And everything that happened on it. Including…

“Wait…you mean that Sphere Doomer? It came from here?” I asked.

"Yep. This is their home. And they're probably attacking us because we're invading it."

“Oh, geez. Now I feel really bad.” Lidelle said.

“Don’t worry, Lidelle. As long as we don’t fight back, they won’t bother us anymore.” Ribbon said.

“Really? That works?”

“Yep. That way, everyone will be fine.”

“ _sigh._ That’s a relief.”

“I know, right? Being in a battle with these things can be rather scary.”

“Glad we have to do that.”

“Same here.”

The two then high-fived each other while letting out some laughs and giggles.

_Now these two have a lot in common…_

“Speaking of which…where did that Sphere Doomer go anyway?” Ringo asked.

“I had Doomie go out and do a little favor for me. He’ll be back soon.” Magolor said.

“I-I see.” Ringo’s nervousness was showing again.

“In the meantime, we’re about to land soon. I found the spot where this information is supposed to be.”

“Really? How’d you do that?” Adeleine asked.

“Well…you’ll see when we land.”

“ _Okay…_ ” Adeleine didn’t know what he meant by that, so she just went with it.

 

When we landed, we were standing on the same purple and yellow-ish floor we saw while flying and we looked around the place known as Another Dimension.

There wasn’t that much to look at.

But it was still pretty.

“Woah. So this is Another Dimension. It’s…really amazing to look at, despite there being barely anything to look at.” I said.

“There’s stuff to look at. You’re just not looking hard enough.”

“Huh?”

We looked ahead in the distance to see Marx heading towards us. I didn’t think he would be here. Especially since he said he’ll take us here in the first place.

“ **Marx! There you are, you little runt! Why’d you ditch us like that without a care in the world?!** ” Adeleine shouted.

“Hey, hey, hey. No need for yelling. I was just doing you guys a favor.”

“A favor?” I asked.

“Yep. I knew how badly you wanted to come here, Amitie. So I took it upon myself to guide you guys here once you got through the portal. A stroke of genius, I know.”

“Marx and I agreed on this shortly after you came back from the Mirror World. We didn’t tell anyone because we didn’t want to jinx it.” Magolor added.

“I see. Well, it worked out in the end. So thank you for doing this, Marx.” I said.

“No problem, Amitie.”

“Yeah, Marx. You were actually useful for once.” Adeleine said.

“Yeah. Congratulations.” Raffina added.

“I’m going to pretend those were words of gratitude.” Marx sounded insulted.

“So where’s this spot with all the writing?” I asked.

“Right this way. Just follow me.”

We followed Marx deeper inside the area and the walls now had some kind of mini-galaxy inside them. I wondered if they took us to other universes. But when I asked Marx that, he chuckled and said that I watch too many sci-fi movies.

_Well, it’s not my fault Ringo got me into those…_

Minutes later, we reached the end of the path and in front of us was a giant galaxy wall with shooting stars running across it. Much like the other walls here, it was pretty to look at. But it being pretty didn’t change the fact that there was no writing about my hat here. And I was starting to feel cheated.

“Hey, hey, hey. That’s weird. The writing was here when I was here.” Marx said.

“Did they disappear at some point?” Arle asked.

“Maybe you have to make them reappear again.” Misuki suggested.

“But how can you do that?” Maguro asked.

“ _You must use your power…to reveal the secret._ ”

“H-Huh? W-Who said that?” Ringo asked.

_Wait. That voice…_

I looked around the area to find the owner of the voice. I knew who I was looking for, and it didn’t take long for me to find the person standing on one of the surround pillars.

“Dark Meta Knight!” I shouted.

“ _So you finally got here huh, Amitie? And you’ve gotten stronger since our last battle. Impressive, to say the least._ ”

“N-No way! H-How did you get out of the Dimensional Mirror?!” Adeleine asked in shock.

“ _I have my ways that need no concern right now. You wish to know the secrets of your Red Puyo Hat, right?_ ”

“Yeah, I do. What do I have to do? Battle you again?” I asked.

Dark Meta Knight just let out a small quick chuckle before answering.

“ _Well, I see you’re eager for another fight. But now’s not the time. Get stronger and maybe I’ll think about it._ ”

“Fine with me. But then how do I _reveal the secret_ from this place?”

“ _You must use your power…the power you gained recently. Place your left hand on the wall, and concentrate on your inner thoughts._ ”

“My inner thoughts? What do you mean by that?”

…

…

“ _You’ll find that out…on your own._ ” Was the only answer Dark Meta Knight gave me before disappearing into that twisty thingy like last time.

“Woah. That guy was…mysterious.” Maguro said.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Misuki said.

"Did you really beat that guy in a Puyo battle, Amitie?" Arle asked me.

“Yeah, I did. It wasn’t easy though. That’s when I found out that I had lost my old spells and first used the Copy Ability.”

“Sounds like it came in handy at the right time.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, it really did. I’m just glad you’re safe, Ami.” Raffina said.

“Th-Thanks, Raffina.” What Raffina said made me blush a little. I know that a lot of things have happened to me since coming here, and everyone’s glad that I’m safe…

…but this is the first time someone’s actually said the words. And it truly made me happy.

“S-So anyway, all I have to do is place my left hand on the wall and think of my inner thoughts? Will that really work?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Adeleine said.

With nothing else to do, I went ahead and placed my hand on the wall and closed my eyes as I started thinking to myself of my inner thoughts. Not long after, the wall started to glow a bright white light. And soon a bunch of text appeared on the wall.

“Woah! It’s working!” Ribbon shouted.

“But…what’s with this language? It’s not English at all.” Misuki said.

“Hey, Lidelle. Do you think you can read this?” Raffina asked her.

“Yeah, I can. In fact, from the looks of it…this is all in Greek.”

“Greek? What are Greek text doing in another universe?” Arle asked.

“Who knows. But we’re lucky to have Lidelle with us.” Raffina said.

Lidelle walked up next to me and began reading the Greek text from the very top. She looked pretty confident on what she was reading…and she also shivered a bit. Which in my mind, wasn’t a good thing.

“What does it say, Lidelle?” Adeleine asked.

“ _If you are reading this, then the legend has already been reborn. The legend of the Red Puyo Hat._

_Long ago, a magician created the hat to purify the soul of a dear loved one._

_The effects didn’t last long. The power from the hat switched souls with the loved one. And corrupted her body._

_Fearing that it could cause universal destruction, the magician turned the body of the loved one into a corrupted soul. And sealed it away inside the hat._

_What the magician used to seal it where 6 magic crystals called the Puyo Souls._

_These Puyo Souls, plus the hidden power of the Light Soul, defeated the Dark Soul and sealed it in the hat._

_But the magician knew the seal would not last forever. And so, the light and darkness of the hat have been passed down from generation to generation._

_The previous owners…knowing nothing of the past events…until the time was right._

_Now, current possessor of the Light Soul. You must use your new hidden power, plus the power of the Puyo Souls…to defeat the Dark Soul once again. And sealed it away forever._

_Do not fail, Light Soul. The universe…is in your hands._ ”

The Greek text then disappeared and the wall stopped glowing. Leaving us with confused and disturbed looks on our faces.

“Woah…” Was all some of us were able to say.

“I see. So that’s the legend of the Red Puyo Hat, huh?”

We heard a new voice coming from behind us. When we looked to see who it was…me, Raffina, Lidelle, Arle, and Ringo were shocked beyond belief.

“ **L-Lemres?!** ”

“Hello there, everyone. Having fun on your little adventure?”

“L-Lemres…what are you doing here?!” I asked.

“Ah, Lemres. So you found your way here just fine, I assume?” Magolor asked.

“Yep. Just fine. The trip wasn’t that all bad.”

“Wait… **What?!** ”

“Allow me to explain.” Magolor said. “I needed more information on what’s happened to you. So when Marx told me about the legend of your hat, I went looking for anyone who knew about it the most. That’s when I found your friend here.”

“When Magolor told me all that’s happened, it was starting to make sense on why you guys just suddenly disappeared that one day. I then wanted to learn more on this legend as well, so Magolor brought me to this world.” Lemres added.

“Th-That’s insane.” Ringo said.

But after hearing about the legend, and now with Lemres being here…it got me thinking of something.

“Hey, Lemres. Do you think that the seal broke when my hat blew off my head that one day?”

“Hmm…It’s possible. It could explain why you had that body possessing power.”

Now I was starting to feel really bad.

“Fiddlesticks. I’m sorry, you guys. This whole thing is happening because of my carelessness on doing my chores. If I would’ve done them, we wouldn’t be going through this mess.”

“Huh? Amitie…what are you talking about?” Arle asked.

“You know. What happened that day…”

“I know that, but what I mean is how is this your fault?”

“Huh?”

“I’m having a great time being here.”

“Me too, Ami.” Misuki said.

“And so am I.” Raffina said.

“I totally don’t regret coming here.” Ringo said.

“And while we might have gotten here through unknown means, we’re having just as much fun.” Maguro said.

“Maguro’s right. I’ve never explored a new world before. So all this is pretty exciting for me.” Lidelle said.

“See? Everyone agrees. You don’t have to blame yourself, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Y-Yeah, but…”

“And besides. I’m pretty sure you don’t regret meeting Kirby, do you?”

“ **No! Of course not! Kirby’s my best buddy!** ”

“Poyo poyo!”

“You find Amitie as your best buddy too huh, Kirby?” Adeleine asked him.

“Poyo!”

“Thanks, Kirby. That really makes me happy.” I said.

“So basically, Amitie…we don’t blame you. In fact, we all thank you. We wouldn’t be having this grand adventure in a completely different world if it wasn’t for you.” Arle said.

“And now, according to the legend, it’s up to you to save it from universal destruction.” Ringo said.

“And of course, we’ll help in any way we can.” Adeleine said.

“So, Ami. Ready to save the universe?” Raffina asked.

The question was obviously a no-brainer. I was so confident with my answer, it gave me a huge grin on my face. This former secret of mine…now that I know it, I must do what it says and complete my number one priority.

“Guys…”

…

…

…

“ **Let’s go save the universe!** ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With knowledge of the legend in her mind, Amitie now knows that the fate of Dream Land is in her hands. Only time will tell on future events that could make or hinder progress to said goal.  
> And now, I must say…that this story is going on another break. And it’s for a good reason this time. I’ve recently downloaded Grammarly and with that, I’m planning to fix every error in this story. It desperately needs it as there could be ones that I just never noticed.
> 
> Until corrections are done, thanks for reading. Later.


	24. Advice From a Star Warrior

  **Starship of the Ancients – Lor Starcutter**

I was sitting in the same room I was in when I first woke up from my injuries thinking to myself about the past events that happened. I had just learned that my hat was a prison for something called a corrupted soul, and the Puyo Souls were the things that trapped it inside. And now it’s up to me to find and reunite the Puyo Souls. And use them and my new powers to stop my clone from destroying Dream Land.

Because now…I’m known as something called a Light Soul.

Thinking about all of this was rather hard for me. Especially since now I have this huge weight on my shoulders.

And the others did notice. And were starting to get concerned.

“Hey, Amitie. You okay? How are you feeling?” Arle asked me.

“Hmm…I’m not really sure. I’m still thinking about all of this.”

“Like what specifically?” Ringo asked.

“Like, you know…how does one save a universe? I’ve never had that much responsibility before. The only thing I’ve come close to saving was a cat from a tree. And even that didn’t go well for me.”

“I see. Yeah, that is a tough one to think about.”

“Hey, Arle. You’ve saved people before. Isn’t this the same thing?” Raffina asked her.

“Well…kinda sorta. I mean, not on this scale before. It was mostly stopping Satan from doing weird, stupid, and annoying stuff. He was never the “destroying the universe” type. But Ecolo sure is.”

“Ecolo?” Both Raffina and Lidelle asked.

“Right. You two never met him.” Ringo said. “Well, he’s this shadowy figure that drools a lot and likes to cause trouble.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember him. The guy kept tickling me when I kept yelling to stop.” Misuki added.

“Yeah, he pretty much does what he wants. He once tried to bury my world in Puyos just for fun. And then he tried to make everyone’s dreams come true, knowing that it could destroy the universe. All just for fun.”

“Geez! What’s wrong with this guy?!” Raffina asked.

“Not sure. But…during my trip back home, he did say something to me. Something about being a space-time traveler that doesn’t exist anywhere. It made me feel a little bad for him. But it didn’t really truly explain why he did those things.”

“Woah. That sounds rough.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, it does.” Arle said. “But I think that what Amitie’s clone is trying to do is on a whole worse scale. The consequences will be catastrophic if we don’t stop her.”

“And that’s what I’m stuck on.” I said.

“Stuck on what?” Adeleine asked as she entered the room we were in.

“I’m trying to figure out how the heck am I supposed to save the entire universe. Just the concept of it is all new to me. I don’t know where to start.”

“Hmm…I see. Well, maybe you can ask Kirby. He’s done it so many times, that he’s actually a pro at it.”

“Really? Many times?” Arle asked.

“They don’t call him The Legendary Star Warrior for nothing.”

“Wow. That’s some title.” Lidelle said.

“I know, right? Wish I had something like that.” Misuki added.

“Alright, then. I’ll ask Kirby for advice. He’ll help me for sure.” I said. “So where is he, anyway?”

“He and Ribbon are eating a bunch of sweets that Lemres guy brought with him.” Adeleine said.

“ _Of course…_ ” We all said with a sweatdrop.

“Is that normal?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” Raffina said.

“I see…”

“C’mon. Let’s go ask Kirby before Lemres gives him too many sweets.” I said as me and everyone else got off the bed and left the room.

 

Once we got to the main area of the ship, what we saw wasn’t all that surprising to us. Well…it was for Adeleine.

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

“I know! It’s so yummy! Hey, Mr. Lemres. Can we get some more?” Ribbon asked.

“ ***giggle*** Why, sure. I’ve got plenty to share.”

“ **Yay!** ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“Want some too, Maguro?” Lemres asked.

“Uh…no thanks. I’m good.”

“You sure? This double chocolate éclair is just waiting to be eaten by someone…”

“I’ll eat it!” Ribbon yelled.

“Okay. Here you go, Ribbon.”

“ **Yay!** ”

“Poyo poyo poyo?”

“Sure, Kirby. I’ll give you half.”

“ **Poyo!** ”

…

…

“Y…You **_sure_** this is normal?” Adeleine asked. Not believing what was happening in front of her.

“Yeah. It is.” The rest of us said.

“Oh. Hello there, ladies. Want some candy? Or maybe some cake? Or perhaps a pastry or two?” Lemres asked as he saw us standing at the entrance door.

“Uh…no thank you, Lemres.” I said.

“Hey, Adeleine! You’ve got to try this! It’s **SO** good!” Ribbon said while still eating the éclair Lemres gave her.

“Ribbon…I think you’ve had enough.” Adeleine said.

“ _Aw! Come on! It’s yummy!_ ”

“Yeah, but…”

While Adeleine tried to convince Ribbon to stop eating, I went over to Kirby to attempt to do the same thing.

“Hey, Kirby. Can I ask you something?”

“Poyo?” Kirby tilted his head in curiosity as he stopped eating his half of the éclair.

_Wow. That was a lot easier than I thought._

“Well…I’ve heard that you’ve saved this universe so many times before. And I was hoping if you could give me some advice on how to do it myself.”

“Poyo…”

“So, you think you could help me out a little?”

Kirby went silent for a bit while staring at me. Then at the éclair. Then back at me. He then shoved the éclair in his mouth and stood up next to me. We were kinda the same height at this point due to me sitting down at the moment.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“I see. So normally, you have to collect these small fragments that somehow scatter all over Dream Land. Then once you get them all, they turn into this ultimate weapon that you use to take on whoever’s attacking?”

“Poyo.” Kirby nodded.

“Okay, I get it now. So basically we should just continue to find the remaining Puyo Souls and see what they do once they’re together. Is that what you mean?”

“Poyo poyo!”

“Alright! Sounds like a good place to start! Thanks, little buddy!”

“Poyo!”

“Did you figure something out, Ami?” Raffina asked as she walked over to us.

“Yep. Kirby suggested that we should just continue to locate the remaining Puyo Souls and go from there. After all, he’s done this before.”

“Yeah, that’s true. So back to Puyo Soul hunting, huh? Where do we even go next?”

“I can answer that.” Magolor said as he approached us.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be flying the Lor Starcutter?” Raffina asked.

“Not to worry, Raffina. The ship can fly itself.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot you said that.”

“Anyway, we’re now on our way to a planet called Shiver Star.”

“Shiver Star?” We both asked.

“Sh-Shiver Star?! Why are we going there?!” Adeleine heard us talking and came over to us.

“That’s where Susie is, apparently. She just called saying she could use some help with the Puyo situation over there.”

“Wait, they’ve reached all the way there?!”

“It appears so.”

“Also, how did Susie get to Shiver Star in the first place?”

“That, I’m not sure.”

“Wow! This cannoli thing is even yummier than that éclair thingy! I wish I can eat these forever!” Ribbon cheered to herself while eating a cannoli that Lemres no doubt gave to her.

“Ribbon! Were you even listening?!” Adeleine yelled at her.

“Adeleine! You really need to try this! It’s **SO** good! It might be my new favorite food!”

“ _sigh._ ” Adeleine did a facepalm before she continued on. “Ribbon. The Puyos have reached all the way to Shiver Star.”

“Shiver Star?”

“Yeah. We’re on our way there help Susie out.”

“Oh. That sounds interesting.” Ribbon then continued to eat her cannoli.

…

…

“I don’t think she cares.” I said.

“Oh, she will. Once I tell her this.”

“Tell me what?” Ribbon asked.

“Ribbon. Do you remember what planet is **NEXT** to Shiver Star?”

“The planet next to Shiver Star? Oh, that’s easy! It’s…” Ribbon then froze up for a bit after giving it some thought. Then…

“ **nonononononononoNOOOOO!!! IT CAN’T BE!!! IT CAN’T HAPPENING!!!** ”

“What can’t be happening?” Me and Raffina asked.

“You see, the planet next to Shiver Star is called Ripple Star. It’s Ribbon’s home planet.” Adeleine explained.

“Wow! Ribbon’s home planet? I wouldn’t mind seeing that.” I said.

“Well, we might have to now in order to calm Ribbon down.”

“ **NononononononoNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!** ”

Ribbon continued to panic frantically as she flew around the ship. Still holding the cannoli in her hands. Kirby had to fly up and grab her before she could even try to calm down.

“Do you get it now, Ribbon?” Adeleine asked her.

“Y-Yeah. I-I get it. We need to get to Shiver Star and clear the Puyos there before they reach Ripple Star. I didn’t think it would get this bad.”

“Don’t worry, Ribbon. Me, Raffina, and the others will make sure that won’t happen. We’ll do our best!” I said.

“Thank you, Amitie and Raffina.”

“So how long until we reach Shiver Star?” Raffina asked Magolor.

“In just a few minutes, we make landfall. So now may be a good time to prepare.”

“I see. Well, let’s go tell the others what we’re doing next.” Raffina said to me.

“Sure thing, Raffina. Come on, Kirby.”

“Poyo.”

So now with a plan set up, we make our way to this planet known as Shiver Star to clear some more Puyos. And in hopes to find a Puyo Soul there, too.

_Watch me now, universe! I’m back and better than ever!_


	25. A Ghost & a Snowman

 

**Abandoned Snowland – Shiver Star**

 

Minutes later, we gained sight of the planet known as Shiver Star. Judging by the name, it sounds like an ice planet. But when we saw it from the window of the Lor Starcutter, something about it looked…familiar.

“So that’s Shiver Star?” I asked.

“Yep. A lone ice planet in the middle of deep space.” Magolor said.

“Uh…hey, guys. Does that planet look familiar to any of you?” Maguro asked.

“Yeah…it actually does.” Arle said. “It kinda looks like…”

“ **Oh my God! That’s Earth!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **R-Really?!** ” Misuki asked.

“ **No doubt about it! That planet looks EXACTLY like Earth!** ”

“ **There’s even the Moon right there!** ” Lidelle added.

“ **No freaking way!** ” Raffina shouted.

“Uh, guys. What’s Earth?” Adeleine asked.

“It’s the planet our world is based on. The spots on this planet look identical to the ones there.” I explained.

“I see.”

“You guys don’t have to worry. This isn’t the actual Earth. Shiver Star has always looked like this.” Magolor said.

“Oh. I see. Sorry for freaking out then.” Ringo said.

“It’s okay, Ringo. We understand.” Adeleine said.

After that misunderstanding, we made landfall on the Earth look-a-like planet and got off to look around. It was…surprisingly pretty. First off, snow was everywhere. That’s to be expected. But there were also Christmas trees all over, snowy mountains in the background, and these crystal pillars sticking out of the snowy ground. And even on said snowy ground were rainbow-colored snowflakes that reflected with the sunlight here. It was like a winter wonderland that never seemed to end.

_Why can’t our planet be like that?!_

“Woah. This place is so pretty.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, I agree. It’s really beautiful.” Misuki said.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen snow this pretty. Let alone any at all.” Arle said.

“Y-Yeah, b-but i-it’s…fr-fr-freezing here. I-I c-can b-barely…st-st-stand.” Raffina stuttered.

“R-Raffina’s…r-r-right. I-It’s t-t-too…c-cold.” Ringo agreed while also stuttering.

“Really? Is it really that cold?” I asked. “Cause I can’t feel it.”

“Y-You’re…s-s-seriously n-not c-cold…A-A-Ami?”

“No, not really. It’s probably these powers that I have. They made me really comfortable when I was stuck on Star Lavadom earlier.”

“W-Well, g-good f-for…y-y-you.” Raffina sounded upset.

It was weird, though. In this snowy planet, I’m extremely warm. Maybe it is my ability doing this. Or something completely different. I wasn’t really sure anymore.

“I’m sorry, guys. Maybe if I held your hand…” I said while reaching for Raffina’s hand. Once I did grab it, I held it tight to make her body heat up. I’ve seen this being done on TV before, but I wasn’t sure if it worked in real life.

But then after a few seconds…

“H-Hey…I don’t feel cold anymore. In fact, I feel…really warm. It’s actually kinda relaxing…” Raffina grew a nice small smile on her face from being so relaxed from the heat coming from my hand.

Ay one point, she eventually fell asleep.

_W-Woah!_

“ **Raffina! Hey, Raffina!** ” I shouted.

“H-Huh?! Oh, wow. Did I really just fall asleep?”

“Yeah, you did. You looked so relaxed too.”

“Wow. I feel so warm and relaxed now. Ami. Whatever you just did really helped a lot. Thanks for that.” Raffina said with the same small smile from before.

“Sure, Raffina. No problem.” I said cheerfully.

“Hey, Am. You think you can do that for us too?” Ringo asked. She, Arle, Misuki, Lidelle, and Maguro were freezing as well.

“Uh…sure, I guess.”

 

Soon after, everyone felt all warm. But for some odd reason, they weren’t as relaxed as Raffina was. Nor did they fall asleep during the process. It was weird, and it had me thinking about what made Raffina so different.

But eventually, I had to put the thought in the back of my mind. As we had a more important thing to deal with.

“So the Puyos have reached all the way here too?” I asked.

“Sounds like it. Right now we’re on our way to meet up with our friend, Susie. Who somehow got here after the Air Ride race.” Adeleine said.

“I see. So where is she anyway?”

“Magolor said that she called from the factory here. So that’s where we’re going to start looking.”

“Okay, then. I hope the walk isn’t far. We may be warmer now, but…”

“ _Amitie…_ ”

…

…

“What was that?” I asked.

“I think someone called your name, Amitie.” Lidelle said.

“ _Amitie…_ ”

“Yeah, I can definitely hear it. Someone’s calling out for you.” Misuki said.

“Really? But I don’t see anyone.” Adeleine said.

“ _Amitie…_ ”

“You know…now that I listen to it, it sounds really familiar.” Raffina said.

“ _Amitie…_ ”

I took a good listen to it myself and after some thinking about it, I figured out who was the owner of that voice.

“Oh, geez.” I said.

“What?” Adeleine asked.

“Hey, Arle. Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Uh…sure, Amitie.”

Once me and Arle were a little farther away from the group, I began whispering into her ear.

 ** _*Whisper*_** **_*Whisper*_**

“Huh?”

 ** _*Whisper*_** **_*Whisper*_**

“Really?! How’d he get here?!”

 ** _*Whisper*_** **_*Whisper*_** **_*Whisper*_**

“Oh. I see. Yeah, I’ll do it.”

Once we joined the group again, everyone was curious about what we just said to each other. But before we told them, Arle went over to Ringo, took the ribbon from her hair that was holding up her trademarked ponytail, and tied it over Ringo’s mouth.

“Uh…Arle. What are you doing?” Maguro asked.

“Just watch.” Arle said while tying the last tie. “Okay, Amitie. It’s done.”

“Great! Thanks, Arle!”

I then faced the path in front of us with a little more confidence (and peace of mind) inside me as I called out the person calling my name.

“Rei! Are you here?!”

 ***mumble*** Ringo perked up once she heard that name.

“Huh? Who’s Rei?” Adeleine asked.

“Well…”

“Amitie.” Before I could answer, Rei had appeared in front of us with a blue aura around him and his normal look of unamusement.

“ **MMMMMMMMMMMMHMHMHMHMHMHM!!!!!!** ” Ringo started freaking out in fear over the sight of one of the twin ghosts. But thanks to Arle’s hair ribbon over her mouth, her screams of terror were muffled.

And thus, our eardrums were safe.

“ **R-Rei’s a…ghost?!** ” Adeleine asked.

“Yep. That’s the jiff of it.” I said.

“Amitie.” Rei said my name again.

“Rei. What are you doing here?”

“Not sure.”

“Well, do you know how you got here?”

“No.”

“Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?”

“No.”

“Is it just you around here?”

“No. Yu’s here too. Don’t know where she is, though.”

“ ***phew*** Thank God.”

“And Yu is…?” Adeleine asked.

“Rei’s twin sister. She’s a lot more cheerful than he is. And easier to talk to.”

“I see.”

“How long have you’ve been here, Rei?” Raffina asked.

…

…

“A few days.” Rei said after thinking about it.

“Geez. And you’ve been here on this snowy planet by yourself for that long?”

“No. I got a friend.”

“Really? Who?”

“ **Chilly!** ”

Then, out in the distance, we saw what looked like a snowman heading towards us. It had two balls of snow piled on top of each other, yellow balls for hands, a bell around its neck, and a green bucket on its head. It also had big black eyes with angry-looking eyebrows over them. It kinda looked cute, but I’m not sure if I should say that to it. Don’t want it to make it angrier than it already is.

_At least I think its angry…_

“Chilly.” Rei said.

“Chilly. Chilly Chilly.”

“Sorry. I found my friends here and wanted help.”

“Chilly.”

“Hey, Chilly.” Adeleine said.

“Hiiiii!”

“Chilly!”

“Wait, you guys know this…snowman?” Arle asked.

“Yeah. This is Chilly. He lives here with a bunch of other chillies”

“Other chilly’s?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, there’s more than one. But this one special. While most chillies wear a blue bucket on their head, this one has a green one.” Ribbon explained.

“Why?”

“We’re not really sure. But it makes him stand out. That and the fact that he’s the only one that can talk.”

“He talks?!” Raffina asked.

“Chilly.”

…

…

“It’s one of those “one word means everything” languages.” Adeleine said.

“I see.”

“So, Chilly. Where did you find Rei at?”

“Chilly. Chilly Chilly. Chilly.”

“He said that he was minding his own business when Rei just fell from the sky. And when he went to go check on him, he didn’t look phased about the whole thing.” Lidelle translated.

“Yep. That sounds normal.” Arle said.

“So, Rei. Were you with Yu before coming here?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Rei said.

“Okay. So you and Chilly were looking for Yu then?”

“Yeah.”

“Chilly.”

“Chilly said that he was helping Rei out when he ran off somewhere.” Lidelle translated.

“Okay. this is starting to make sense now.”

“Really?” Raffina asked me.

“Well, kinda. We still don’t know how Rei got here in the first place. And unless we find Yu, we won’t ever know.”

“Yeah, true. We better find her and fast.”

“Alright, Rei. We’ll help you look for Yu.”

“Thanks, Amitie.” Rei said with his usual depressed tone.

“Chilly. Chilly Chilly.”

“Chilly said he wants to help too.” Lidelle translated.

“Chilly Chilly. Chilly!”

“And that he can help get rid of the Puyos here, too.”

“Great! The more help the better! After all, this planet is big.” Adeleine said.

“Puyos?” Rei asked.

“We’ll explain on the way, Rei. Let’s just start looking for Yu.” I said.

“Okay.”

“Uh…Amitie. What about Ringo?” Maguro asked.

I then looked over at Ringo, who still had Arle’s hair ribbon over her mouth. She had stopped freaking out from earlier, but her eyes were all puffy from the crying she did from the fear. Her face was also red. Looking like she was running out of air.

“ _sigh._ Okay, Arle. You can take it off now.”

“Alright.” Arle said as she started untying the ribbon. Once it was completely off, Ringo took a few big deep breaths and wiped her watery eyes a bit.

“ _Th-That wasn’t necessary, you know._ ” She said. Sounding rather angry.

“Yes, Ringo. Yes it was.” Me and Arle retorted.

With that out of the way, we continued making our way through Shiver Star. Now with three things to do. Meet up with Kirby’s friend Susie, clear the Puyos here, and find Yu.

_Gee. Being a hero is a lot harder than I thought…_

 


	26. Adeleine's Secret Nightmare

A couple of minutes after we found Rei and met Chilly, our walking had led us to the entrance of a colorful building. The snow had covered up the multiple yellow benches leading up to the door. It also covered up a bunch of green shrubs and red trees. Which now that I look closer at them, they looked crystalized.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of the coldness, or they normally look like that. But they were pretty to look at.

“So is this the factory?” I asked.

“Well, part of it. There are two parts to this place. Above ground is some kind of a mix between a mall and a toy factory. Underground…” Adeleine started explaining, but then went silent after a while. We then noticed her shaking a bunch for some reason.

“Adeleine, you okay?” Ringo asked.

“U-Uh…y-yeah. I-I’m fine.”

“Really? Cause you’re shaking a lot.” Misuki said.

“I-It’s probably the cold getting to me. I-I’m fine. R-Really, I am.”

“It’s fear.” Rei said.

“ **F-Fear?!** ”

“What makes you think it’s fear?” Arle asked Rei.

“Ghost can sense fear. We live by it. She has a lot of fear.”

“ **F-Fear?! I-I don’t have any fear! I-I’m fine!** J-Just…fine…” Adeleine’s shaking became more intense. Her face started turning red and tears fell from her eyes. Until at one point, she fell to the ground and continued to cry to herself.

“ **Whoa! Adeleine! Are you feeling alright?!** ” I shouted as me and a few others ran up to her. Her eyes were red and puffy from the heavy tears she had let out. Her face was a darker red than before and her body was trembling in fear.

“ _No…_ ”

“No?” I asked.

“ _No…No! **I won’t leave! I WON’T LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!!!**_ ”

“Without us?”

“She’s having a nightmare.” Rei said.

“A nightmare? Of what?”

“Not sure.”

“ _Put them down…put them down… **PUT THEM DOWN! PLEASE! I’M BEGGING YOU!**_ **_HAVE MERCY!!!_** ” Adeleine continued to mumble to herself while her tears had gotten heavier and her condition had gotten worse. We had no idea what was happening to her. And were starting to get worried.

“ **H-Hey, Kirby! Call Magolor! Tell him to bring the ship here! QUICK!** ” I shouted.

“ **Poyo!** ” Kirby used his phone to call Magolor and not long after he came by with the Lor Starcutter. Me and him carried Adeleine’s fear-filled body into the ship and placed her in one of the beds. Her entire body was burning hot at this point. We weren’t sure what was happening.

And to be honest…I was getting scared.

 

“Hmm…this is not good.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with her, Magolor?” Ribbon asked.

We were all in the room were we brought Adeleine in just about an hour ago. Magolor had done some test on her and was now reading over the results.

“Yeah. And it’s not good at all. Adeleine has contracted Nightmare Fever.”

“Nightmare Fever?” We all asked.

“It’s a rare virus that manipulates the person’s mind into having endless nightmares. Usually about a dramatic moment from their past.”

“A dramatic moment from their past? So this is caused by a dark memory or something?” I asked.

“Just about. The virus invades the mind of its victim and finds their most horrible memory they so truly want to forget. And it plays it in an endless loop, tormenting the victim in the process.”

“W-Woah! Such a thing exists?!” Misuki asked.

“I’m afraid so, Misuki.”

“B-But…Adeleine’s always cheerful and happy. I can’t imagine her having a horrible memory.” Ribbon said.

“Everyone has a horrible memory, Ribbon. Even the one you least expect.” Arle said.

“Yeah, but…for someone like Adeleine to have such a thing in her mind…just what happened to her?”

“The virus normally strikes when the victim is near the person or place that was involved with the bad memory. When did this occur?” Magolor asked.

“Around the time we reached the factory we were supposed to go to. She started describing it…and then began feeling this way.” I said.

“I see. So it’s something to do with the factory.”

“She said there were two levels to it, but never explained the lower one.” Raffina added.

“The lower one? Why that’s just a regular old factory, right?”

“ **WRONG!** ” Marx had yelled this one word out as he rolled inside the room with the giant purple Puyo from before.

_Still need to ask how it got that big…_

“What? You’re saying you know something?” Magolor asked.

“Great. Just what are you hiding **_this_** time?” Raffina asked in an annoyed tone.

“I’m not hiding anything. I just know what happened in the lower factory. Care to listen?”

“If it’ll save Adeleine, than yes! Please tell us!” Ribbon begged.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear this. I don’t do well with scary stories. The last time I heard one, I nearly wet myself…

Nearly.

But if it’s to cure Adeleine of this virus, then I’ll have to stick through it.

_And hope that I can hold my bladder._

“Well apparently, a long time ago the lower factory was the main facility for a group of aliens who invaded Shiver Star. They kidnapped many of the residents here and used them for these insane experiments. A lot of them were inhumane, and people actually died from them. Although there were a few survivors. They managed to escape and call for help to the star warriors of the time. They defeated the aliens and the remaining survivors were freed. They then decided to close off the lower factory and leave the planet for good.”

“Whoa…that actually happened?” Maguro asked.

“Th-That sounds…t-t-terrifying…” Lidelle was shaking in fear a little.

“ Yep. And it’s rumored that at least one of them fled to Popstar. Care to guess who?”

We all thought about it for a few seconds. And it didn’t take us long to figure it out.

“H-Holy crap. D-Did Adeleine go through all that when she was younger?” Raffina asked.

“Yep. And she’s been keeping it a secret ever since.”

“Then how do you know about it?” Arle asked.

“I have my ways.” Marx said with a chuckle at the end.

_Right…_

“Is there any way to cure her?” Ribbon asked.

“The only way to cure Nightmare Fever is to extract the virus from her brain. And there’s only one item that can do that: The Love-Love Stick.” Magolor said.

Us other-worlders looked confused.

“The what?”

“I know the name sounds ridiculous, but it’s actually a really powerful item. Kirby used it to defeat Dark Matter a while ago.”

“Really?” I asked Kirby.

“Poyo.”

“Wow.”

“So this Love-Love Stick thing will cure Adeleine of her Nightmare Fever?” Ringo asked.

“Yep. It’s the only way.”

“I see…”

“What? No “That’s illogical” this time?” Arle asked.

“I don’t say that all the time.”

“Yeah, you do.” I said. “And it mostly involves anything that’s not normal. Like space-time traveling, or popping rainbow jellies to get powers…”

“Or me.” Rei added.

“W-Well…you have to admit those things aren’t normal.”

“I’m a thing?”

“ **Well, you are terrifying!** ”

“That hurts.”

“Will you two knock it off?!” I yelled.

“So where can we find the Love-Love Stick?” Arle asked.

“Uh…I’m not sure. Kirby was the last person to have it before it disappeared.” Magolor said.

“Aw, shucks.”

“What does it look like, anyway?” Raffina asked.

Bandana-Dee did some markings on his board and showed it to us when he was done. The Love-Love Stick appears to be a red and yellow striped wand that begins at a point and ends at a flat surface topped with a golden heart.

“ **Chilly! Chilly Chilly!** ” Chilly started hopping around in excitement for some reason.

“What’s wrong, Chilly?” Lidelle asked him.

“ **Chilly Chilly! Chilly! Chilly Chilly!** ”

“Wait, you remember seeing the Love-Love Stick recently?”

“Chilly Chilly Chilly! Chilly!”

“Someone had it with them, trying to break it?”

“Chilly! Chilly Chilly Chilly! Chilly Chilly!”

“And that person looked like Amitie?”

_Someone who looks like me…_

“ **OH NO!** ” I shouted.

“What is it, Ami?!” Misuki asked.

“ **My clone! She has the Love-Love Stick! And I bet she’s trying to destroy it so that we can’t cure Adeleine!** ”

“ **Grr…the nerve of her! She just loves causing trouble for us!** ” Raffina yelled.

“And not only that, but we know her true intentions now. If she destroys the Love-Love Stick, the universe might be in even more danger.” Lemres added.

“ **We have to find her and fast! C’mon, Kirby!** ” I shouted.

“ **Poyo!** ”

“W-Wait, guys! I’m coming with you!” Ribbon yelled.

“Are you sure, Ribbon?”

“Adeleine’s my best friend. She’s helped me tons in the past. And now… **now I have to do the same for her!** ”

What Ribbon just said made me grow a smile on my face. She really cares for Adeleine, and is willing to do anything to help her recover.

Even if it means fighting my evil clone.

“Alright, Ribbon. Let’s go!”

“Chilly! Chilly!”

“Chilly wants to tag along too. A-And so do I.” Lidelle said.

“I’ll come too. For extra back-up.” Arle added.

“Great! Then let’s hurry! We don’t have that much time!”

“Right!”

“Good luck, everyone.” Magolor said.

“Please come back safe, Ami.” Raffina said to me.

I gave her and everyone else a thumbs up before we headed out to the exit to find the Love-Love Stick, and the battle with my clone that will no doubly come with it. I’m not sure what will happen. I don’t even think I’ll win against her. But I have to at least try. For Adeleine’s sake.

_Because she’s my friend too._


	27. Doppelgänger Duel

The six of us were outside the Lor Starcutter and were heading in the direction of the factory that started this situation. We kept our eyes peeled for my clone and/or the Love-Love Stick in hopes to find the latter as soon as possible.

“Do you really think your clone has the Love-Love Stick, Amitie?” Ribbon asked.

“I mean she has to. Based on Chilly’s description of the person who had it, it just has to be her.” I said.

“But how did she get her hands on it? Wasn’t it was lost for good?” Arle asked.

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Kirby’s right. We just need to get it and fast.”

“Right.”

As we kept walking and looking, we weren’t having much luck in finding either one. We checked every part of the surrounding area and came up with nothing. We eventually turned back and headed for the ship where everyone was waiting. Outside were Raffina and Lemres sitting on the rail leading to the door. I guess they were waiting for us to return.

“Did you find her?” Raffina asked.

“No. And we looked everywhere. She could be anywhere at this point.” I said.

“ _sigh._ Damn.”

“Well, that’s too bad. If you don’t mind me asking, Amitie, what does your clone look like anyway?” Lemres asked.

“Well…she looks like me. And we have the same height. But she is wearing different clothes. Mostly red. The center part of her hair is dark red and so are her eyes. And she has a red hue all over her body.”

“I see…” Lemres said before looking up at the sky. “…Is that her right there?”

“ **Huh?!** ”

We looked up at the same spot Lemres was pointing at to see my clone floating above us. Laying on her side with a smug look of amusement on her face.

_Or is it my face? I’m not too sure._

“ _Well, it took you long enough to notice me. I thought you all were just as moronic as Amitie here. But, oh well. One smart person is good enough._ ”

“W-Woah! Th-That’s Amitie’s clone?! Sh-She actually looks really scary!” Lidelle stuttered in fear.

“ **Hey, you! Where is it?! Where’s the Love-Love Stick?!** ” I shouted.

“ _Oh? You mean this thing?_ ” She pulled out the Love-Love Stick from her sweater and started twirling it around in a teasing state. “ _I’m not sure why you want this piece of garbage. Just kidding! I know **EXACTLY** why you chumps want it! You want to use it to cure that painter girl’s Nightmare Fever. But that ain’t happening anytime soon. Not when this part of my plan is going so well. ***giggle***_ ”

“Part of your plan? So I assume you’re the one who infected Adeleine with her Nightmare Fever, am I right?” Lemres asked.

“ _Wow. Two for two. You’re smarter than I thought, candy man. Yes, it was me. And I feel no remorse for it, either._ ”

“ **What?! Why would you do such a thing?! Adeleine didn’t do anything to you!** ” Ribbon yelled with a mix of crying tears.

“ _You’re right. She didn’t do anything to me. I was actually targeting Amitie. But thanks to the crappy depth perception she gave me, I missed. But hey, at least someone is suffering. So it’s not all that bad. Well…for me, that is. ***giggle***_ ”

“Unbelievable… **You’re just plain evil!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ _Aw thanks, Raffi. I’ve been working hard at it. I hope it pleases you. ***giggle***_ ”

This girl…no, this clone…the legend was right about her. The Dark Soul inside her…she wants nothing more than to destroy the universe. And I now know that she’ll stop at nothing to achieve her goal.

But I also know that it’s my job to stop her. My duty, my mission, my goal, is to save the universe from mass destruction. I wasn’t going to let it down. Not this early.

 Now it’s my time to fight.

“ **Hey! Red Me!** ” I shouted.

“ _Hm?_ ”

“I now know your true intentions. You wish to destroy the universe all just for fun. But I also know mine, as well. And it’s to stop you from achieving yours. And so, with that said, **I’ll defeat you right here and now!** ”

“ _Oh! Someone’s cocky now! Do you **REALLY** think you have a chance of beating me?! **HA!** I’d like to see you try!_ ”

“ **W-Wait, Ami! A-Are you sure about this?!** ” Raffina asked me.

“Well, I have to eventually.”

“Y-Yeah, but…this Amitwo looks extremely powerful. Somewhat out of your league.” Lidelle said.

“ _Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. What did you just call me?_ ” The clone asked.

“What? You mean “Amitwo”?”

“ _Amitwo?! Now you’re just begging to die!_ ”

***shriek***

“ **Like that’s going to happen! We’ll defeat you and bury you in a bunch of Nuisance Puyo!** ” I shouted.

“ ** _Hmph! Right back at ya, Blondie!_** ”

“ **Let’s…** ”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!** ”

 

**BOSS: Vs. Dark Red Amitie**

 

As a 4-chain set of Puyos came down on each side, I was getting my mind ready for possibly one of the most important Puyo battles of my life.

_This is it. This is the battle I was destined to fight. I just need to beat this Dark Soul and this whole thing will be over._

_But…_

_This seems way too easy…_

I brought myself out of my train of thought and began building up the Puyo wall with the other five. Raffina and Lemres stayed back and watched, as they didn’t want to get in the way.

We were nearly about to set off, when…

“ **COMIC FLAME!** ”

Apparently, Amitwo (I really like the name) was much faster than us. She shot a fire-like energy sphere at us and it was coming down quick. That’s when I remembered something about the Plasma Ability and what it could do for me.

“ **PLASMA!** ”

I changed into my Plasma form and started charging up power to form a barrier around me.

“ **PLASMA WAVE!** ”

Then when I was fully charged, I shot it at the fire energy sphere. Both clashing into each other before both exploded and nullifying all damage.

“Thanks, Amitie!” Arle cheered.

“No problem, Arle.”

“ _Gah. So you have the Plasma Ability, huh? You’re getting stronger._ ” Amitwo said.

“You bet I am! Now prepare for this!”

I started charging up again and had another barrier around me. The electro-currents were surging all over my body as I felt such intense power.

“ **PLASMA WAVE!** ”

“ **FIRE!** ”

“ **PLASMA WAVE!** ”

“ **VENTO!** ”

“ **ROCK STAR!** ”

We all attacked with the power we had. I didn’t even notice Kirby copying my power, but he must’ve done so at some point.

Not all of them hit Amitwo. The double Plasma Waves and Arle’s fire attack did though. It made her slouch down a bit, but she got higher up and shook her head in anger.

“ _Grr…lucky shot. But don’t think it will happen again. **I will obliterate you all!**_ ”

We continued to build up the Puyo wall, adding more Puyos to the ones that were left over. The stack got bigger, too big in fact. And so we had to set off again. The power level wasn’t that much different from last time, so I had to switch out of Plasma and use something else.

“ **WATER!** ” I decided to use Water for a bit as it is really powerful. Then I raised my hand and aimed at Amitwo.

“ **WAVE ATTACK!** ”

“ **ICE STORM!** ”

“ **URAGANO!** ”

“ **PLASMA SCATTER!** ”

“ **AQUA STAR!** ”

The same five of us fired our attacks…

“ **EXO-FLARE!** ”

But this time, they were all blocked off. Amitwo had shot a bunch of electrified arrows that destroyed our attacks. And they even managed to hit us a couple times.

“ _Ha! Like I’m falling for that again! Losers!_ ” She said with an added bonus of sticking her tongue out.

_These attacks…why do they look and sound so familiar?_

Amitwo then spawned a bunch of dark red energy spheres engulfed in a black flame. They looked too big for me to blocked, but I at least had to try.

“ **DEMONIC BLAST BEAT!** ”

I didn’t even get the chance to change into Mirror for Amitwo to shoot her next attack at us. And it was a strong one too. Those energy spheres broke huge parts of the ground apart. Until at one point, I was on a piece of broken ground all on my own.

“ **HELLSPAWN RAY!** ”

The piece of ground I was on started to shake. Then it shot up rapidly and sent me to the snow white sky. I looked below me to see that it was a lava geyser that did that just now.

I was so high up, that I was starting to get dizzy. But I didn’t even get the chance to sit down…

Because my clone was staring directly in my face with an evil look in her eyes.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Looks like you lose, Amitie._ ”

I was truly scared. I feared that she would try to kill me again. I mean, she’s already done it twice already. No doubt she would do it again. I was a goner for sure.

Soon after the stare down from hell, a giant energy sphere started forming above her. While it was fully charging, she moved behind it and placed her right foot on top of it.

“ _Now…this time, I’ll make **SURE** you die a slow and painful death. **By watching you die myself! I’LL FINALLY BE RID OF YOU, AND UNIVERSAL OBLITERATION WILL BE MINE! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!**_ ”

There was nothing I could do. I was too frozen in fear to do or say anything. Those flashbacks of me nearly dying so many times were flowing through my mind. All I could do was watch the giant energy sphere get bigger.

And await my permanent demise.

“ **BAYO-NOVA!** ” Amitwo shouted as she kicked the sphere with extreme force and speed. I closed my eyes as it hurled towards me and exploded with a huge range.

“ **AMITIE!** ” I could hear the others shout my name.

_Wait! W-W-Wait a second! I heard them! I shouldn’t be hearing them! I should be dead! What happened?!_

I slowly opened one eye and could barely see something red in front of me. I thought it was my clone again, but when I opened the other eye, my sight became clearer. And I was able to see who it was that was in front of me.

And I was truly surprised.

“ **K-King Dedede?!** ”

Dedede had turned to me and brought me up to my feet. He then gave me a simple nod, which in return gave me a boost of confidence. I then faced Amitwo again, who looked really shocked and angry at what just happened.

“ ** _What?! How are you here?! I left you in the middle of you ruined castle!_** ” She yelled.

“ **It really is Dedede!** ” Ribbon shouted.

“ **He saved Ami’s life!** ” Raffina cheered.

“ ** _Grr…the nerve of you! Getting in my way! I’LL MAKE YOU BOTH PAY!_** ”

As Amitwo started spamming energy spheres, Dedede blocked them all with multiple swings of his hammer. One of them actually hit Amitwo right back, and she was paralyzed from her whole body.

“ _Gah…I-I can’t…I can’t move!_ ”

Dedede then turned to face me and gave a thumbs up. I returned the gestor and was about to turn into the Plasma Ability, when…

“ **Chilly! Chilly Chilly!** ”

“Chilly! What are you…” Lidelle tried to ask.

But before she could finish, Chilly threw a snowball at me and I caught it with my left hand for some reason. I’m normally right-handed, so this felt a little odd to me.

But then, I felt a chill throughout my body. My wristband was now a light-blue color and felt cold around my arm. I even took a pick of that spot in my hair to see if it changed color. And it did.

_I think Chilly just gave me a new Copy Ability!_

I stared at Amitwo again, knowing that I had to do something and fast. I closed my eyes and jumped up a bit, turning into a ball of snow that was roughly my size.

“ **ICE BALL!** ”

I then shot myself forward towards Amitwo at full speed. But somehow, she managed to block me. Even when she was still paralyzed from her own attack.

I felt myself heading back the way I came. But then I felt a sheer force hitting the snowball I was in. Judging from the circumstances, I bet it was Dedede and his hammer. I felt the power from his hammer and it shot me extremely fast back at the paralyzed copy. I ended up absorbing her inside the snowball. And once she was deep inside…

“ **SNOW CRASH!** ”

…I made the snowball explode. Sending chunks of snow everywhere. And I saw myself and my copy falling to the ground. Luckily, I landed on my two feet with only a little pain.

Amitwo wasn’t so lucky.

 

“ _Damnit. I-I lost. I actually lost to you. This can’t be happening._ ”

“Oh, it’s happening, Amitwo. Now hand over the Love-Love Stick!” I yelled.

“ _Grr… **FINE! Take your Gay Stick back! I never needed it anyway! That stupid stick won’t help me with my goal! I was only trying to slow you down! But clearly, that didn’t work!**_ ”

“Well, duh.”

“ _But know this, Amitie. This one battle isn’t the end for me. The next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky. And that’s a promise!_ ”

Amitwo then started floating up into the sky attempting to flee. But before she did, she said one last thing to us.

“ ** _And for God’s sake, STOP CALLING ME AMITWO!!!_** ”

She then disappeared into the snowy white sky, leaving the damage she made behind.

I stared at the Love-Love Stick that was finally in my hands. It took a lot of effort to get this thing. And now with this, we can finally cure Adeleine of her Nightmare Fever.

“ **Amitie!** ”

“Huh? Oh hey, everyone.”

“ **Don’t “oh hey, everyone”! You nearly died again!** ” Raffina yelled.

“O-Oh, yeah. Right. But luckily Dedede was here to help me out.”

“How did you get here, anyway?” Arle asked Dedede. His only response was a simple shrug.

“No idea, huh? Well, thanks for the help. We owe you greatly.”

Dedede responded with a thumbs up out of gratitude.

“Uh, guys. Not that I’m not happy about Amitie being alive or anything, but I really want to save Adeleine.” Ribbon said.

“Okay, Ribbon. Let’s get back on the ship and use this oddly-named stick to cure her illness.” I said.

“Poyo!”

 

While Magolor was looking up how the Love-Love Stick should be used for this, me and some of the others tried to explain to Dedede what happened to Adeleine. With some help from Bandana-Dee, he was able to understand part of it. which was good enough for the rest of us.

“Okay. So all we have to do is swing the Love-Love Stick once in Adeleine’s face and the virus will gone from her mind. Kirby, care to do the honors?” Magolor asked.

“Poyo!”

Kirby took the stick and stood on top of the bed, facing Adeleine’s bright red and sweating face. He took one big swing of the Love-Love Stick and immediately after a bunch of sparkles came out from it. Hitting her face like glitter. Her face started reverting back to normal and the sweating had stopped. Soon she started moving again and eventually opened her eyes.

“ _H-Huh…wh-what happened? Wh-Where…am I?_ ”

“ **ADELEINE!!!** ” Ribbon cheered as she flew over to hug her.

“R-Ribbon?! Wh-What’s with you?! A-And why’s everyone here?!”

“You don’t remember? You passed out while we were outside the factory.” I said.

“O-Oh, yeah. I remember. It was probably a cold or something. I’m all better now.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“What?”

“Adeleine. They know.” Magolor said.

“Know what?”

“Quit playing dumb, Adeleine. We know about what happened to you and why you were having that nightmare.” Raffina said.

Adeleine went silent for a bit, then brought her head down in sadness and shame.

“Alright, fine. All of that did happen to me. And most of my family, too. They told me to escape and leave them behind, but I didn’t want to. In the end though, I ended up leaving this planet on my one with a few other survivors. We were all separated for our protection, and I ended up in Popstar. I tried so hard to forget that awful memory. But every so often, it comes back to haunt me. And I just…I just don’t know how to deal with it.” Adeleine looked like she was about to cry for real this time. But then Ribbon grabbed hold of her and held her tight around her upper body.

“Adeleine. I’m sorry you went through all that as a child, but you could’ve told me. I’ve would’ve helped you all the way.”

“Y-You would?”

“Of course! We’re best friends! Best friends help each other out in a time of need! You helped me save my home from Dark Matter and I’m forever grateful for that! And now it’s my turn to help you!”

“R-Ribbon…”

Adeleine finally returned Ribbon’s hug and the two were embraced in each other’s warm friendship that felt stronger than ever.

“R-Ribbon… **I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry that I’ve kept a secret from you for so long! Can you ever forgive me?!** ”

“ **Adeleine, of course I forgive you! I’ll be your best friend forever!** ”

“ **And I’ll be yours forever, too!** ”

The rest of us watched as the two girls began crying together in pure happiness. It was almost hard for me to not shed a tear. But somehow, I managed to keep them in.

_Friendship is such a beautiful thing…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 26 and 27 were originally going to be one chapter, but halfway through, 26 started working out as a stand-alone chapter. So I ended up splitting them. SO THAT MEANS DOUBLE UPLOAD! YAY!


	28. The Charming (Ex) Secretary

**Chapter 28 – The Charming (Ex) Secretary**

 

A few hours after we cured Adeleine, our group was standing in front of the entrance to the upper part of the factory. We were ready to finally explore this place, but at the same time, we were worried about something.

Scratch that, we were worried about **_someone_**.

“Hey, Adeleine. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Ribbon asked her.

“Ribbon, I told you. I’m fine. I feel totally refreshed from the effects of the Love-Love Stick. Where’d you guys find it anyway? I thought it was lost for good and no one could find it.”

“That’s what we thought, too. But then we found out that Amitwo had it.” I said.

“Amitwo?”

“My clone. We decided to call her that, though she hates it a lot.”

“I see. So you took the Love-Love Stick back from…Amitwo?”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

“And it was a close battle, too. Amitie almost lost.” Lidelle said.

“But then Dedede came in and they both defeated Amitwo together.” Ribbon said.

“And Amitie even got a new ability from it all.” Arle said.

“New ability? Which one is it?” Adeline asked.

I had to think about it for a quick second. As I’m still getting used to this whole Copy Ability thing.

“Is there an ability that lets you turn into a snowball?”

“A snowball? Hmm…sounds like the Ice Ability to me. How’d you get it?”

“Chilly threw a snowball at me and I caught it with my left hand. Don’t know why, though. It’s probably instinct or something. But anyway, thank you both again for the help. We wouldn’t have been able to cure Adeleine if you didn’t.”

“Yeah, thanks a bunch, you guys. I really owe you.”

“Chilly chilly.”

Dedede gave a slight nod of gratitude in response.

“The Ice Ability…so that makes four. How many am I able to hold on to, anyway?”

“Not sure. I don’t think Magolor said anything about that, either.”

“ _sigh._ Oh, well. I’m not complaining. These powers are pretty neat-o!” I said while holding up a peace sign.

“Neat-o? That’s an interesting saying.” Adeleine said.

“I say it all the time. It’s kinda like my catchphrase.”

“Along with “ _My dream is to be a wonderful magician_ ”.” Arle said.

“And “ _Get real_ ”.” Raffina said.

“And “ _Get really_ real”.” Lidelle said.

“And “ _Fiddlesticks_ ”.” Ringo said.

“Okay, I get it, meanies.” I said while getting embarrassed.

“And “ _Meanies_ ”.” Misuki said.

***whine***

I can hear Adeleine and Ribbon giggling at me getting teased.

_Why do I have so many catchphrases?_

 

After the struggle we went through with Adeleine’s Nightmare Fever and battling Amitwo for the Love-Love Stick, we finally went inside the factory that’s said to have a dark and disturbing past.

What we were seeing first was the upper part of the factory. The part where it's supposed to be a mix between a mall and a toy factory. And Adeleine wasn't kidding when she said it looked like that.

We saw stuff that resembled a mall, like elevators and escalators, stores selling clothes and TV’s, and…fish tanks(?). But we also saw stuff that resembled a toy factory. Mainly conveyor belts loaded with toys lined up side by side to each other. Some were actually being made right in front of us.

It was really cool, to be honest. I always wanted to know how my favorite toys got made.

“Woah! So many toys! Really cute ones, too!” I yelled with glee.

“I know, right?! They’re really really cute! I want them all!” Lidelle was just as excited as me.

“Betcha I can find the cuddliest toy first!”

“No way! I’ll find it first!”

“Hey. Focus, you two. We’re not here to play with toys.” Raffina said to us.

“ _But, Raffina! They’re **SO** cute!_ ” I whined.

“ _All we want is a cuddle or two!_ ” Lidelle whined with me.

“ _sigh._ Guys. Don’t you remember the last time you’ve said those exact words?”

“Uh…”

Raffina was referring to the time our class went on a field trip to a toy museum last year. There were so many cute toys, and Lidelle and I couldn’t control ourselves. Long story short, we actually broke some of the toys. And Ms. Accord had to pay for them.

“W-We said we were sorry.” Lidelle and I said.

“Yeah, but now we can never go back. I mean, I don’t really mind. I’m too old for those baby toys.”

“ **Raffina!** ” I shouted.

“ **Such hurtful words!** ” Lidelle shouted.

“Oh, grow up, you two!”

“Raffina’s right, guys. We need to stay focused.” Maguro added.

“ ** _Ugh._** _Fine._ ” We both whined.

As we continued walking, I got close enough to Lidelle so that I can whisper something to her.

“ _We can just sneak one out later._ ”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Good idea, Amitie._ ”

A short while later, we were nearing the other side of this mall/toy factory place. It was at this point that we started hearing something. It sounded really good. Majestic, even.

It…kinda sounded like…

“ _Noble Haltmann, we adore him_

_Noble Haltmann, we adore him_

_Kingly lord of time and space!_ ”

“Hey, is someone…singing?” I asked. Everyone else looked puzzled as they weren’t the ones singing.

“ _Every day we wish him glory,_

_Every day we wish him glory,_

_Gazing on his noble face!_ ”

“Wait. I recognized that song. And there’s only one person we know who sings that song.” Adeleine said.

“Really?”

“Yep. And it sounds like it’s coming from outside.” Ribbon said.

“Whoever this person is, they’re really good.” Misuki said.

“Right? I’m kinda jealous.” Arle added.

"Well, you can meet her outside. That is if she stops singing." Adeleine said.

We were out in the back entrance of the mall toy factory where we saw a slender young woman facing away from us with hands behind her back. She was moving slowly as she continued to sing to herself.

“ _Master, crush the competition!_

_In your presence let us stay!_

_Yours is every star and planet_

_Now and ever, night and day!_ ”

“Wow…she’s really good.” I whispered. Then something came to my mind from earlier. “Hey, Adeleine. Is this woman…”

“Yep. This is Susie. But let’s have her finish the song first.” She whispered back to me.

I nodded as we went back to pretty much spying on this Susie woman while she continued to sing to no one.

“ _We implore you, dear Haltmann_

_We implore you, dear Haltmann_

_Bless our work and be at ease!_ ”

“ _Pay and ergonomic seating,_

_Pay and ergonomic seating,_

_Give us favors such as these!_ ”

“ _All we wish for you our lord is_

_That you never lead us wrong!_

_Rule us all, beloved Haltmann!_

_That we may all sing our song!_ ”

…

…

“ ***giggle*** Haltmann may be long gone as of now, but I have to admit this song is so catchy.”

“Well, obviously. Since you keep singing it.” Adeleine said suddenly.

“ **GAH!** ” Susie quickly turned around to see us standing there. Realizing that we were watching her the whole time.

“G-Geez! A head’s up would’ve been nice, you know!”

“Sorry, Susie. It’s just so interesting that you’re so immersed with that song. Even though the person based off it is…well, you know.”

“Yeah, well he had good taste in music apparently.”

“I see.”

“So, anyway…are these the girls from earlier? I don’t remember there being so many that time.”

"Well, it was just these four right here. Amitie, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina. They came here with Kirby to help us out of this mess."

“And to be honest, the mess has only gotten bigger since then.” I added.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Susie asked.

“Well…”

We then went on to explain to Susie everything that’s happened these last few days. From finding out about the Puyo Souls to having some of our friends from our world appear here without knowing how. We also explained about Amitwo and what she plans to do to the universe. And lastly, we explained how I lost my old spells and gained the Copy Ability like Kirby. It was a lot to talk about. Sure hope we didn’t forget anything.

“I see. So now it’s more than just getting rid of these jelly blobs. Figured it wouldn’t be that easy.” Susie said.

“Well, that’s why we won’t give up. All of us together will, to put it in quotes, “ _Use this new hidden power, plus the power of the Puyo Souls…to defeat the Dark Soul once again. And sealed it away forever._ ” Although, I’m still trying to figure that part out.” I said.

"Well, thank you all so much. Your efforts surely won't go unnoticed."

“No problem. We’re all glad to help.” I said cheerfully.

“So, what’s with that hole right there?” Arle asked.

“This hole takes us down to the lower part of this factory. I looked it up, and read that there’s some dark history with this place.”

“D-Don’t remind me…” Adeleine said. We saw that she was shaking again and was looking away from all of us.

“Adeleine…are you sure you’re okay?” Ribbon asked.

“Y-Yeah…I-I’m fine…r…really.”

“You don’t sound like it.” Ringo said.

“Adeleine. You don’t have to force yourself. If you’re too afraid to go back down there, we can only have a few of us go instead.” I said.

“R-Really? Y-You guys would do that for me?”

“Of course. That’s what friends do. They help each other out in a time of need. Right, little buddy?”

“Poyo!”

“See? Kirby agrees. Just relax a little more.”

“After all, you only recently got better.” Raffina added.

“W-Well…”

“I’ll stay with you, Adeleine. I want you to feel really better.” Ribbon said.

Adeleine went silent for a bit. Then she let out a sigh before gaining a small smile on her face.

“R-Ribbon, everyone…th-thanks a lot.”

“I only want what’s best for my best friend.” Ribbon said cheerfully. The two began to hug each other out of gratitude and comfort.

_Wow. These two are really good friends. I hope we can all stay like that._

After some deliberation, we decided on having me, Raffina, Arle, Ringo, Lidelle, Kirby, Bandana-Dee, and Marx go through this lower factory. Susie’s coming with us, but mainly as a guide.

“Oh, one thing I should mention…there’s some weird activity going on down there.” Susie said.

“Weird? Like what?” I asked.

“Well, I saw these holographic figures carrying this weird-looking purple gem down the hole. I couldn’t really tell, but it looked like there was a person inside of it.”

“A person?” Arle asked.

“That’s what I think. It looked like a girl with a whirly tail. She was completely imprisoned inside that thing. Couldn’t move an inch.”

“Wait, a girl with a whirly tail?” Lidelle asked. “That sounds a lot like…”

“Yu.” Rei said as he flew past us and went inside the hole without any hesitation.

“Rei! Wait! You don’t know where to go!” I yelled after him, but he didn’t hear me.

“Great. Now we gotta go after him.” Raffina said.

“He must really care for Yu, doesn’t he?” Arle asked.

“Sibling love, I guess. Although he doesn’t really show it that well. Or any emotion, for that matter.” Lidelle said.

“Poyo poyo.”

“Yeah, little buddy. They do sound very different from each other.” I said.

“So is everyone ready to go?” Susie asked.

“Yep. We’re ready. We’ll be back, everyone.”

“G-Good…l-luck.” Adeleine said to use. I was able to tell that she still had some fear inside her. What happened down there must’ve traumatized her deeply. I feel so bad for her, but it also makes me worried. Not just for her, but for us going inside the same exact factory that did this to her long ago.

_Just what the hell are we about to experience?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ANNOUNCEMENT* This will be the last chapter for the year. I currently have 5 active stories between here and Fanfiction and it's starting to become too much for me. Hope you guys understand.


	29. Studying the Factory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably say this now, this story is NOT canon with Wave 3 of Star Allies.

“ _I-It’s so dark in here! Wh-When do we get to the bottom already?!_ ”

“Quit whining, Lidelle and just keep going.” Raffina said.

“ _B-But it’s super scary! I-I can’t see a thing in here!_ ”

“ _Y-Yeah, I agree with Lidelle. I-I didn’t even want to come down here!_ ” Now Ringo was starting to whine.

“ _sigh._ Geez, you two.”

"You know, in a way, this is kinda funny to watch. Or in this case, hear." Marx said.

“Shut it, you. Just because I’m giving you a lift down here doesn’t mean you get to talk down my ear.” Raffina had to give Marx a piggyback ride down this ladder we’re on because he doesn’t have any arms.

“We’re reaching the end now. Everyone prepare yourselves. What you’re about to see…isn’t going to be pretty.” Susie said.

“ ** _*whine*_** ” Which caused Lidelle and Ringo to whine some more.

“ **Oh, shut up and keep moving**.” Raffina said while sounding annoyed.

We had finally reached the bottom of the ladder and had entered the lower half of the factory. We all took a glance at the surrounding area…and started believing that Susie was right.

The place was all dark and gloomy. Like it had no life here whatsoever. The part we entered in had these metal boxes stacked all around us. Some were being moved by a giant weird-looking claw and being placed on a conveyor belt going to…who knows where. And further ahead were a bunch of cannons that were shooting on their own at more metal boxes being placed on another conveyor belt. Again, to who knows where.

“W-Woah.” I said. “Th-This is a factory?”

“I-It looks more like a military base or something.” Raffina said.

“These boxes are probably leftovers from when the aliens took over this planet.” Susie said as she looked at the boxes. “But it looks like they’re still being used. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on the conveyor belts.”

“Someone’s still using these things?! Who?!” Arle asked.

"Possibly the same person or people who made those holograms earlier. Clearly, this factory is being used again. By who, or what they plan to use it for, I cannot answer."

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Yeah, me too, little buddy. We already have enough to do with Amitwo and the Puyo Souls. Adding a third thing would be too much.”

“Well, we can only hope, Amitie.” Arle said.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“ _Amitie._ ”

We looked up to see Rei floating towards us after he left and went ahead of us earlier.

“Geez, there you are, Rei! I bet you got lost in here, didn’t you?”

“Pretty much. I can’t find Yu.”

“Well, that’s why we came down here, Rei. To look for her.” Raffina said.

“But the thing is, where to start?” Arle asked.

“We can just start walking down this conveyor belt down the path.” Susie said.

“Walking down a conveyor belt? Is that even safe?” I asked.

“ _Normally, no. But in this case, it’s the only part of the factory that we can walk on._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board.

"I see. Well, let's go, everyone."

“ _D-Do we have to?_ ” Ringo whined.

“ _Th-This place is really scary._ ” Lidelle whined with her.

“You don’t have to come. You two can stay here and wait until the giant crane back there mistakes you for boxes and takes you to who knows where.” Marx said with a grin.

“ **WHAT?!** ” Both Ringo and Lidelle were now shaking in fear.

“Hey! Knock it off! Adeleine may be up above, but I’m still here to keep you in check!” Raffina scolded him.

“Geez. It’s like I’m being babysat or something.”

“You kinda are.” Arle said with a tiny giggle.

“Oh sure, Arle. Laugh at my misery, why don’t ya.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Alrighty then! Let’s start looking for Yu!”

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered with me as we started walking down the moving conveyor belt. Getting deeper inside the factory with every step we took.

 

Walking against the conveyor belt was a lot harder than we thought it was. Even though it was going at a slow speed, most of us had a hard time walking down this thing.

“Come on, you guys. Don’t tell me you’re all tired already? This is good cardo.”

Like I said, most of us had a hard time. Raffina was basically sprinting on the dang thing.

“W-We’re not…a-as athletic…as you…R-Raffina.” I said while losing more and more of my breath.

“Y-Yeah. I-I can’t…d-do this…w-with how sm-small I am.” Lidelle added.

“And yet, you both wonder why you keep failing gym class.”

“They kinda have a point, Raffina.” Arle said. “The path’s even blocked off up ahead.” She then pointed up ahead to show that the path really was blocked off. There was a big metal door surrounded by glass panes. They even went around the conveyor belt, so going around it wasn’t an option.

“Geez. That is a problem.” Raffina admitted.

“How are we supposed to get past this?” Ringo asked.

“Hmm…well, there is one thing I can think of. But only Kirby knows how to use it.” Susie said.

“Huh? Only Kirby? What’s this thing, anyway?” I asked.

Susie then pulled out from her pocket some kind of weird-looking remote. And after a few button presses…

“Alright. It should be here any second.” She said while putting the remote away.

“What is?” We asked.

Not long after, we saw a weird-looking helicopter-thingy heading towards us. It flew right above us and dropped what looked like a robot onto the ground before flying off.

The six of us visitors had no idea what this was. I even looked at Bandanna-Dee and Marx, and even they looked clueless on what this thing is. But when I looked at Kirby, he looked extremely happy for some reason.

“Remember this, Kirby?” Susie asked him.

“Poyo!”

Kirby then ran up to the seemingly dead robot and jumped inside it. When he got in it, not only did it started moving, but it also started turning pink. And the dull, grey face it had before was now looking a lot like Kirby.

When the thing was fully up and working, it looked like those super cool battle armor thingies that I would see on TV during the weekend. And I was actually seeing one up close! So wicked!

“Everybody. This is the Robobot Armor. One of the products made thanks to the Haltmann Works Company.” Susie explained.

“Woah…” We were all amazed at the sight.

“W-W-Wait a sec! When did you get a mech?!” Marx asked Kirby.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“A robot invasion? When did that…”

“U-Uh, never mind about that.” Susie butted in. “The point is that this Robobot Armor will make our trek through the lower factory a lot easier. It can even use Copy Abilities.”

“Huh?! Really?!” I asked.

“Poyo!”

“Wow.” Ringo said. “I’ve got to admit. Even though this seems highly illogical…”

“ _As you always do._ ” Arle and Raffina sounded annoyed when she said that part (And I don’t blame them).

“…Anyway, this is a hi-tech revolution of science right here. I’ve gotta take a picture. Maguro and Ris are going to be so jealous.”

“Will this thing find Yu?” Rei asked.

“Possibly. We’ll just have to get to the end, first.” Susie answered.

“Don’t worry, Rei. We’ll find Yu. She has to be here somewhere.” I said. I didn’t get much of a response from him, which is to be expected. But knowing how much Rei cares about his sister is really heartwarming.

Something to think about during all this madness that’s happening.

“So how do we get past this door?” Lidelle asked.

“Poyo.” Kirby moved the Robobot Armor up to the metal door and, with no effort whatsoever, just straight up punched it. Obliterating it to pieces.

“Woah.” We all said.

“Yep. It’s a really powerful piece of machinery. It got me that super sweet promotion, too. **_*giggle*_** ” Susie said, sounding highly proud of herself.

_I think I’m starting to agree with Ringo when she said that this world’s more advanced than ours._

“Okay, then. Let’s keep going, little buddy.” I said.

“Poyo poyo!”

 

As we continued our way through the lower factory, it started getting darker. As in, we could barely see what was going on in front of us. There was still noises around us. But what those noises were, we were having a hard time figuring it out.

“It’s even darker than it was last time.” Lidelle sounded scared again.

“I know. I’m getting the creeps.” Ringo said.

“Darkness. Pure darkness. Nothing but darkness. Eternal darkness. Universal darkness.”

“ **Rei! Please stop!** ” Lidelle and Ringo shouted with fear.

“Sorry.” Was all Rei said.

It wasn’t even as dark as it sounds. With Rei being a ghost, he’s able to glow in dark areas. So we had that for a light source. But it wasn’t much to light up the whole area we were in.

Then I remembered something from not too long ago. Something about Kirby’s Robobot Armor.

“Hey, Susie. Didn’t you say that the Robobot armor can use Copy Abilities?” I asked.

“Yes. It can.” Susie said. “Although, it’s limited on what Ability it can use. What Abilities do you have, Amitie?”

“Well…I got Mirror first from beating Dark Meta Knight. Then I got Water when I first found out about this power. I got Plasma from beating Dubior. And then I got Ice from Chilly.”

“I see. That’s already quite the collection.”

“Yeah, it is! And it’s super cool, too!”

“Well. Based on what you just told me, Mirror and Water won’t work. Plasma and Ice do, but I think Plasma will help more.”

“I see. Well, alright then.”

I looked at my wristband for a second before raising my arm in the air.

“ **PLASMA!** ”

My wristband had then turned into the same light-green color with electric sparks around it. I didn’t need to check my hair for me to know what power I currently had. Which is good, cause plucking a hair from my head hurts like hell.

“Ready, Kirby?” I asked.

“Poyo!”

“Alright. **PLASMA NEEDLE!** ” I shot an electric needle that required no charging at all. What happened after that, I didn’t see coming.

The Robobot Armor absorbed the electric needle. Almost like it scanned it or something. Then it changed its form from a pink Kirby look-a-like robot to a light-turquoise one with coil-like arms and purple shades that covered its eyes. Seeing it transform like that was no doubt one of the many greatest moments of my life.

I can’t decide on one, okay?

“Woah! So cool!” I heard Ringo say while seeing her taking more pictures to no doubt show off to Maguro and Risukuma.

Kirby then started charging up some electric power to the point where it was as big as a ball. After that, he shot it in the air. Letting it explode and lighting up the whole area. Turns out the lights were just dead from all those years ago and were never changed since.

“Wow! That’s so cool, Kirby!” I cheered.

“Poyo!”

But after I said that, we took a glance at what part of the factory we were in. And let's just say, it wasn't cool at all.

We were surrounded by these huge round tanks of water. All connected to each other by a bunch of wires and pipes. It would’ve been weird enough to have it just those. But there were things inside these tanks. Things that made the sight of them a whole lot worse.

“ _Wh-What the hell?_ ” Arle asked in a weak state.

“ _Pl-Please tell me we’re only hallucinating._ ” Raffina said in a state of disbelief.

“ _I-I don’t think we are, Raffina._ ” Lidelle said, shaking in fear.

“ _Th…Th…_ **THERE ARE CLONES OF US!!!** ” Ringo shouted. Having one of her panic attacks.

And she was right. Inside the tanks were copies of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Lidelle. Connected by wires to the purple gem from before. And clenched up like how a baby is inside a mom's belly. But the most noticeable part about each of them was that they each had different colored markings all over their bodies. The Arle clone had blue markings, the Ringo one had red markings, green for the Lidelle clone, and yellow for Raffina’s clone.

None of them moved, but I think that was the only thing good about this whole discovery. Seeing no doubt evil clones of my best friends was a huge nightmare for me. I was just as scared as them.

“ _Wh-Who…Who could’ve done such a thing?_ ” I asked.

“ _Aw, shucks. You guys weren’t supposed to see this yet. Now the surprise is ruined._ ”

“What a second. That voice…”

Not too long after hearing that, the owner of the voice appeared in front of us. It was Amitwo, with an evil smug look on her face. I’ll admit, seeing her the other times before I was scared to the bone. But now, I was filled with rage. As it was now clear that this was her doing.

“ **Amitwo! What the hell is this?!** ” I shouted.

“ ** _First of all, I told you to quit calling me that ridiculous name! It’s Dark Red Amitie! Get it through your thick skull!_** ” Amitwo shouted back. She went silent for a bit, most likely to calm down, before explaining this horrifying sight. “ _And second, what do you think it is? They’re clones of your friends._ ”

“Yeah! I can see that! But why do they exist?!”

“ _Because universal annihilation is a lot of work for just one person. And since you have so many friends, I figured why not make my own. So I used the memories I shared with you when I was that stuck as that stupid hat and made these clones. And as you can see, it's working perfectly! Nyahahaha!_ ”

“So basically, you made these clones because you were lonely.” Marx said.

“ _Wh-What?! Sh-Shut up! I-I wasn’t lonely!_ ” Amitwo was actually blushing from that. It was a weird sight. But an interesting one, too.

“Sounds like it to me. That’s probably why you went all psycho on Amitie.”

“ ** _I SAID SHUT UP!!!_** ”

“You damn psychotic clone! Making a copy of me! **I’ll make you pay!** ” Raffina shouted with rage. She then started charging up to Amitwo, too furious to think straight.

“ **Raffina!** ” I shouted. “ **Wait a…** ”

***BOOM***

All of a sudden, Raffina was stopped in her tracks by a person who fell from the sky. From the looks of it, it was a girl with really light blue hair. Her outfit contained a black t-shirt that showed part of undershirt straps on her shoulders, black & white short shorts, and blacked-out sneakers. Her hands were covered with some kind of white magic, and her body had this dark aura around her.

After not moving for a bit, the girl raised her head up to look at all of us. And we couldn’t believe what we were looking at. For this girl…was someone we knew.

“ **Yu?!** ” The five of us that knew her shouted in shock.

Our eyes weren’t playing tricks on us. Yu was right there in front of us. Only…she wasn’t a ghost anymore. She was human, just like us. She even had legs of her own. Her face was a total blank and her eyes were big and wide.

Like she’s being mind-controlled.

“ _Oh. So you do know her?_ ” Amitwo sarcastically asked. “ _That’s nice. I had kidnapped her and used her eternal soul to power up my new friends. Now that I have no use for her anymore, you all can take her back. That is…if she doesn’t **KILL** you first! **Nyahahahaha!!!**_ ”

Amitwo then disappeared out of our sights. Leaving us with a soulless, human version of Yu that wants to kill us.

“ _Annihilate._ ” She said with such a deep monotone.

“Y…Yu.” Rei looked and sounded scared. Seeing what his twin sister had become was a traumatic experience for him. He refused to move and kept staring at the soulless twin.

“Rei! Get back!” Arle yelled.

“B-But…but Yu…”

“Rei! That’s not the real Yu! You know that!” Raffina yelled. “Just get back and let us handle it!”

“B-But…”

“Susie. Can you take Rei somewhere safe for us?” I asked her.

“Sure thing, Amitie. Come on, Rei.”

I can tell that Rei didn’t like the idea. But he knew that he didn’t have a choice, either. He flew over to catch up with Susie. But before he completely left, he had one more thing to say.”

“Amitie. Please. Save Yu.”

I grew a smile on my face and gave Rei a thumbs up.

“Don’t worry, Rei. We’ll save her.” I said.

Rei nodded before finally flying off with Susie. Now it was just us five girls, Kirby and his Robobot Armor, Bandanna-Dee, and Marx as we got ready to fight the former ghost girl.

“ _Annihilate. Annihilate. **AN-NI-HI-LATE!**_ " Yu kept repeating that one word. Making her scarier than when she was a ghost.

“Let’s…” We all said.

“ **PU-YO BAT-TLE!** ”

 

**BOSS: Vs. Yu**

 

It took a little while for the Puyos to show up, but they soon started falling down in front of us the same way as before. We didn’t have much of a plan to go with, as we never thought that we would be fighting Yu this way. Let alone at all.

But if there’s one thing I know about Yu, is that she always starts by lining the left and right walls with Puyo. And right now was no exception.

“Hey, guys. Let’s try to go easy on Yu, alright? She’s still our friend.” I said.

“Go easy? Are you kidding, Amitie? I haven’t had a battle in days and I’m itching for a massacre.” Marx said.

“Then, I’ll give you one once we finish this battle!” Raffina yelled while shoving her fist in front of Marx’s face.

“ ***gulp*** D-Did I say “massacre”? I-I meant innocent fun playtime. Y-Yeah, that’s it.” He was clearly terrified.

“We’ll try, Amitie. But Yu isn’t exactly that strong of a Puyo player. At least, not by herself.” Arle said.

"Good point." I then starting thinking to myself that even though Yu now looks like this, her stand-alone power isn't that great. It's the reason why she and Rei play as a team. This battle, although one nobody expected, should be over in just a few attacks…

…Or so we thought.

“Alright, everyone. Ready your…”

“ **HEAVY HAZE!** ”

Yu had cut off everyone by using one of her attacks. She had spawned a really dense fog that blinded our sights of the field. We had no idea where each of us were. And worse of all, we had no idea where Yu was.

“G-Guys?! Y-You here?!” I asked in a panicked state.

“ **RED MIST, COME ON!** ”

Then out of nowhere, a bunch of fireballs started falling from the sky. Due to the fog, I couldn’t see where the fireballs were landing. I had a few close calls, but the explosions they cause were so big. Yu never had that spell of hers explode on impact. And that first spell never did blind people in a dense fog. Maybe the fact that she’s a human now really did make her more powerful.

It had me wondering…if she was like this when she was truly alive.

“ ** _*cough* *cough*_** _This fog…it’s so heavy._ ”

“Poyo.”

“Kirby? Is that you?” I asked. Then kept feeling for something that would let me know it’s him. That’s when I felt the hard body of the Robobot Armor.

“ ** _*phew*_** It is you.”

“ _A-Amitie?_ ” I heard another voice.

“Lidelle? You okay?”

“ _A-Amitie…I-I’m scared. I-I can’t see where Yu is._ ”

"I know. I am too. There has to be a way to get rid of this fog."

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“Huh? What’s that’s Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Give the Robobot Armor the Ice Ability?”

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“You can use that to clear the fog?”

“Poyo.”

“Hmm…alright. Here I go.”

I raised my left arm in the air and yelled out the name of the Ability I wanted.

“ **ICE!** ”

My wristband was once again light-blue and the coldness around my arm returned as well.

“ **ICE BREATH!** ” I shouted before spewing an icy fog from my mouth. Kirby’s robot scanned it and transformed into a somewhat darker light-blue version of Kirby with giant fans for arms.

“Poyo!” Kirby then started spinning around in the Robobot Armor. The giant fan arms blowing cold air everywhere. And cleared away the dense fog that Yu had created.

“Hey! The fog’s gone!” Arle cheered.

“U-Uh, g-guys…” Ringo stuttered as she pointed upwards.

There was Yu with a giant pink energy sphere in front of her. She looked completely out of it. The only thing that was occupied in her mind was to kill us all. Her old cheery self was long gone. And it was because of that Dark Soul copy.

“Aw, crap! Wh-What do we do, Amitie?!” Arle asked in fear of her life.

“M-Maybe if we block it together…” I responded in the same way.

“S-Sorry, girls. You’re on your own. I’m too special to die.” Marx said before he teleported out of the factory.

“ **You damn coward! Universal God, my ass!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ _Why do stuff like this keep happening to us?_ ” Ringo whined. Already willing to give up.

“I-I honestly don’t know, Ringo.” Arle answered.

“ **REST IN PEACE!** ”

As Yu fired the pink energy sphere at us, we all started to scream in fear. We didn’t know what to do. Until…

“Blue Mist, Come On.”

The energy sphere exploded due to the blue fire that clashed with it. Bring Yu down to the ground in the process. We looked up and saw Rei coming down to us.

“R-Rei?!” I shouted. “Wh-What are you…”

“I need to save Yu.”

“B-But, Rei! She’s so strong!” Raffina tried to convince him.

“Doesn’t matter. I need to save Yu.”

“I get that, but…”

“Guys. I don’t think he’ll budge.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, I agree.” Lidelle added. “Rei’s bond with Yu is so strong, that he’s willing to battle her in this state just so he can rescue her.”

“ _It may sound reckless, but it’s actually pretty brave of him._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

I didn’t respond to all that and just looked over at Rei, who was still floating in front of us destined to save his twin sister.

_Rei. I hope you know what you’re doing._

“ **RED MIST, COME ON!** " Yu cast her spell again.

"Blue Mist, Come On." Rei cast the only spell he knew as a counterattack to Yu's. The two bursts of fire collided with each other. Pushing each one back and forth as their power was equally matched. It was really scary to watch, but we had to make sure that Rei could do this. So we didn't have a choice but to watch.

“ _Annihilate. Annihilate. **AN-NI-HI-LATE!**_ ” Yu shouted her zombie-like chant.

“Yu. Please remember. It’s me. Rei.”

“ _Tch…Anni-hilate._ ”

“Yu. It’s Rei. Your brother. You said that we will always be together.”

“ _Anni…An…A…_ ”

“Yu. Please come back. I love you.”

“ _…_ ”

“ _…_ ”

“ _R…Rei?_ ”

“Wait! Is she coming back to her senses?!” Ringo asked.

“I think he’s getting through to her!” I cheered.

“Yu. It’s me. Rei. Let’s be together again.”

“ _R…Rei._ ”

We saw that Yu’s spell was slowly getting weaker. To the point where you could barely see it through Rei’s. Rei made his spell weaker and soon the fire clash has ended. Yu had then collapsed onto the floor, looking like she was unconscious from the whole fight.

“Yu.” As Rei flew over to his knocked-out sister, the rest of us were positive that this battle amongst our friend was finally over.

 

“Yu. Are you okay?” Rei asked while trying to wake his sister up.

“ _Y…_ ”

“ _Yo…_ ”

“ _You…_ ”

…

“Yu rang?!” Yu shouted with her normal cheerful voice.

“Yu.”

“Rei!”

The twins then hugged each other tightly. Glad to be finally reunited once more.

“Thank you **SOOOO** much for rescuing me, Rei! You’re the best brother ever!”

“Yu. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Rei.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“It wasn’t just me.”

That’s when Yu noticed the rest of us standing a few feet over. Watching their long-awaited reunion.

“Guys! You’re here, too?!” Yu asked.

“Yep. We all came to find you, Yu. Even our friends Kirby and Bandanna-Dee here.”

“Hiiiii!” Kirby said. Bandanna-Dee only did a simple wave.

“Awes-”

***THUD***

Yu tried to do a flip in the air but fell back to the ground landing on her stomach.

“ _Ow._ ” She whined in pain. “What the heck? Why did I feel that just now? Why can’t I fly? Why am I not floating?”

Those of us who knew Yu didn’t know how to explain it to her. But we had to somehow.

“Uh…Y-Yu. D-Do you remember anything before now?” I asked.

“Well…” Yu thought about it for a bit. “Rei and I were in the graveyard, making puns with each other. When this yellow figure appeared and did…something. Next thing I knew, I was trapped inside this weird purple gem. And then this other figure came up to me and…ugh. That’s all I remember.”

“I see.”

“Oh. I see that everything went well.” Susie said as she joined us again.

“It’s over? Thank goodness that mess is done.” Marx said as he appeared back from wherever he went.

“Yeah! No thanks to you, _oh mighty universal god_!” Raffina yelled.

“Hey, I tried at least. It was just a last-minute thing.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” At this point, Raffina didn’t care what excuse Marx had for ditching us. She just flat out hated him.

“What does all of that have to do with me not flying?” Yu asked.

_Right. We were doing this…_

“Yu. There isn’t an easy way to explain this. But…you see…”

“H-Here. J-Just use my mirror.” Raffina said.

Yu took the mirror and opened it to see her reflection. She looked at every detail of herself. And when she finally figured it out, we saw her shaking in fear.

“ _Wha…what the…_ **WHAT THE HELL?! I’M A HUMAN?!** ”

“Y-Yu…” I tried to explain.

But I never got the chance. Yu had fallen to the ground and started to cry. Rei hugged her tight in an attempt to comfort her, but none of us believed it was helping.

“ _How? Just how? How did this happen to me?_ ” She asked.

“I believe I can answer that.” Said a new voice.

Not too after hearing that voice, we saw someone zip by and appear on the left side of us. It was a woman of some sorts wearing a yellow and black uniform of some kind and has long yellow hair in something like a hime cut. Not to mention that she had yellow marks under her eyes. It was kinda creepy to look at that.

“Wh-Who are you?” Lidelle asked.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Marx said. “You’re one of those mage sisters, aren’t ya? Uh…Dan Matressan, or something like that.”

“ **It’s Zan Partizanne, you infuriating jester!** ” The woman shouted with anger.

“Well, _sorry._ But do you really think anyone would remember a name so ridiculously long? Who the heck named you that, anyway?”

“ **That’s none of your concern! GAH! How do people put up with you?!** ”

“I’m starting to wonder that myself.” Raffina said.

“Hey!” Marx got insulted.

“Anyway…” The woman, now known as Zan Partizanne, continued. “Bonjam, Kirby. It’s been a while since our last encounter. I see that you’re still a big nuisance. I guess some things don’t change.”

“ _Poyo…_ ” Kirby sounded angry, which was a first for me.

“What you even doing here, Zan?” Susie asked.

“Oh, nothing. I just came by to retrieve the clones my friend made.”

“Wait a sec. _Friend_? You mean you’re working with my clone?!” I asked.

“Oh? Did she not tell you? Well, I guess she was right about having to share a brain with an idiot.”

“ _Why you…_ ” Now I was getting angry.

“W-Wait. Clones? Wh-What clones?” Yu asked.

“Well, to put it in short…there’s an evil clone of me that was originally my Red Puyo Hat that I always wear. She wants to destroy this other world we’re in and we’ve been trying to stop her. But just recently, we found out that she had made clones of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Lidelle. And that’s she kidnapped you and used your eternal soul to give them powers. That’s why you’re a human.”

“ **WH-WHAT?!** ”

“Wow. You managed to get all of that spot on. I’m impressed.” Zan said.

“ **GIVE ME BACK MY ETERNAL SOUL, YOU WEIRD-LOOKING PSYCHO WOMAN!!!** ” Yu shouted at her.

“I don’t have it, you loudmouth child! And besides, even if I did, why would I give it back?! With that thing, those clones will be the ultimate killing machines! And then I’ll finally get my revenge on you, Kirby! You’ll pay for what you did to Lord Hyness! And I’ll make sure of it! **Baaahahahaha!** ”

Zan Partizanne then zipped away quickly using some sort electric power. That’s when we noticed that the clones of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Lidelle were gone.

“Aw, geez. Looks like we have ourselves another threat.” Ringo said.

“ _Get really real. This can’t be happening._ ” I whined. Now my worst fear has become true. As now, with 5 Puyo Soul still missing and Amitwo and Zan Partizanne working together, we have a third problem. Find and defeat the clones of my friends.

_Why do I always jinx myself hard?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here it is! The long-awaited Chapter 29 of Dream Land Invasion! I’m so sorry that this took so long to do. It’s just that sometimes I would try to write it, but then struggle to do so. But I made a promise to myself that I would get this done before Tuesday. So I kept pushing myself until it was finally done. Hope you guys like it. Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	30. Recruiting the Generals

With nothing else left to do in the lower factory, we decided to head back up and meet with the others on the Lor Starcutter. Which means that we have to tell them what exactly happened in there.

I wasn't sure if they were prepared to hear something this extreme, but we didn't have a choice on telling them or not. So each of us explained it in the clearest way possible.

“ **WHAT?!?!** ”

And they still were blown completely out of their minds.

“ **You mean Amitwo made clones of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Lidelle?!** ” Ribbon asked.

“Yes.” I said.

“ **And she stole Yu’s eternal soul in order to power them up?!** ” Misuki asked.

“Yes.”

“And to make things worse, she apparently has teamed up with Zan. As she had taken the clones with her.” Susie added.

"With Zan? I haven't heard from her or her sisters in a while. Can't be surprised that we haveto deal with them again." Adeleine said.

“Wait. Her sisters?” Arle asked.

“Zan is part of a group called The Three Mage-Sisters. With her are two others named Francisca and Flamberge. Those three, along with their leader Hyness, revived a titanic god-like humanoid named Void Termina through means of a ritual.”

“So, it was basically a cult?” Maguro asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“ _* **whine** *_ _This sucks!_ ” Meanwhile, Yu was still upset that her eternal soul was stolen from her and is now a live human being. Though now that I look at her, she really looks cute as a human girl. But I'm pretty sure that if I tell her that, she'll get angry. So I'll keep it to myself.

“ _I miss my old ghostly self! Being human is the worst!_ ”

“Hey…” Us humans that were in the area clearly got insulted.

“Sorry, guys! But it’s true! I hated being a human then and I hate being one now!” Yu then started to cry again.

“Yu. It’s okay. We’ll get your eternal soul back.” Rei said while comforting his twin sister.

“Rei’s right.” I said. “We’ll stop this whole entire mess and get you back to normal in no time, Yu.”

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Th-Thanks, Amitie._ ”

“So, what do we do now?” Arle asked.

"Well…seeing how The Three Mage-Sisters are a part of this now, our best bet is to go after them." Adeleine said. "But the thing is, we haven’t seen or heard from them since that event. Finding even just one of them will be a huge chall-”

“Found them.” Magolor said.

“Wait, what?”

“Well, just Francisca and Flamberge. Apparently, they’re on Blizzno Moon.”

“Blizzno Moon? What are they doing there?”

“Who knows. But Zan doesn’t seem to be with them.”

“I see…”

“Well, that’s just lucky.” Raffina said. “Now we can at least knock two of these mage-sisters out for good and call it even for those clones.”

“Uh…I don’t think it’ll be that easy, Raffina.” Ringo said.

“What exactly is Blizzno Moon, anyway?” Maguro asked.

“It’s a moon that’s in the gravitational pull of Planet Frostak. It’s another ice planet, so Blizzno Moon is just as cold.” Magolor explained.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _More ice? Geez, I want a warmer area already._ ” I complained.

“We were on a warmer area a few days ago.” Misuki told me.

“Those don’t count. Volcanos were everywhere in those places.”

“Well, it’s the last ice area you’ll have to go to, Amitie. So just bare with for a little longer.” Lemres said.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Fine.” I gave in.

 

**Snowy Mini-Planet – Blizzno Moon**

 

We finally landed on the icy moon known as Blizzno Moon. Looking around, I could say that this place is way prettier than Shiver Star. There was no trees or anything around the place. Just mountains and mountains of snow. And the sky…oh wow, the sky. It was a pretty dark blue with even more pretty lights flowing through it. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“Wow. What a nice change of scenery.” I said.

“Right? It’s so pretty here. Snowy days in our world are nothing compared to this.” Misuki said.

“Seeing all this snow around is making me antsy. _I wanna play in it so badly._ ” Lidelle whined.

“ _Us, too._ ” Misuki and I whined with her.

“Guys. We need to stay focused.” Ringo said to us.

“Ringo’s right, girls.” Raffina added. “The snow can wait.”

“ _Aw…_ ” All three of us whined again.

“So, where did Magolor said those two were again?” Adeleine asked Lemres, who was given a map of the direct location of these two mages.

“Let’s see…it says that they’re…a few feet up ahead.”

"Guys. Isn't that them over there?" Arle asked as she points at two people in the distance. They both wore clothes similar to Zan's. But one was blue while the other was red. Also, the one in red was a bit darker than the other one.

“Yep. That’s them. Let’s go before they do something to this place.” Adeleine said.

“Poyo.”

We started heading in the direction of the two mage-sisters. But as we got closer, we could tell that they were arguing about something.

“ **Gah! This is stupid! We’ve been walking around this moon for days!** ”

Well, one of them was.

“Flamberge, we don’t really have much to do here. We have to at least find some kind of civilization.”

“But, Francisca! It’s nothing but snow here! I bet if there were people here, they died in a snowstorm at some point!”

“ _Hey._ ”

“S-Sorry. But other than that, my point still stands!”

“Yes. I guess you’re right. Like anyone would come to this snowy wasteland.”

“Hey, you two!” Adeleine called out to them as we caught up. When we did, they did not look happy to see Kirby and Adeleine.

“ **Aw, jamblasted! It’s that stubby little pink thing and that naggy painter girl!** ”

Again, only one of them was.

“ **Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who are you calling naggy?! You little…** ”

“Adeleine…” Ribbon said to her. Remind her of why we’re here in the first place.

“Right. I know.”

"Bahaha. That's right. Know your place, Artsy girl."

“ _Why you…_ ”

“A-Anyway…” The blue mage-sister came up and stopped a fight from going on. “What are you guys even doing here?”

“We need to know where Zan is? Have you seen her?” Ribbon asked.

“ **Zan?! That traitor?! Why would we know or care where she went?!** ”

“Flamberge. Please calm down.”

“Wait, what do you mean traitor?” Adeleine asked. “And I’m only asking Francisca because Flamberge is really pissing me off right now.”

“Adeleine!” Ribbon said to her.

“Well, what we mean is…Zan just ditched us here saying we’re no longer useful to her. It was a huge blow to us. But unlike me, Flamberge didn’t take it so calmly.”

“ **You’re actually defending her, Francisca?! She left us here to die! The nerve of her! If I EVER see her again, I’ll…** ”

“Yeah, that’s nice.” Raffina interrupted her.

“ **Hey!** ”

“Anyway, uh…Francisca, was it? We need to know where Zan went. She’s actually putting this world in danger.”

“In danger?” Both Francisca and Flamberge asked.

We then proceeded to tell them everything that’s happened these few days. Including the part about their sister.

“Bah. That’s too bad. But that’s your problem, not ours! Go figure it out yourselves!” Flamberge didn’t even care for one second.

“What?! Are you serious?! The entire universe is in danger of being annihilated, and you don’t even care?! **What is WRONG with you?!** " This time, it was me who shouted.

“ **What’s wrong with me?! What’s wrong with you?! You’ve got some nerve asking us for help after what that stubby pink nuisance did to us! I’d rather burn you all up in flames!** ”

Then, all of a sudden, Flamberge pulled out a flaming sword from behind her and raised it in the air.

“In fact… **I THINK I’LL DO JUST THAT!!!** ”

Then she swung the sword down. Sending a bunch of fireballs down at us. Everyone started panicking, but Kirby and I knew what to do. While Kirby inhaled one fireball and gained a tiara with live flames coming out from it, I absorbed one with my left arm, and my wristband turned red while being engulfed in flames. No doubt that we had both gotten the Fire Ability.

“Ready, Kirby?” I asked him.

“Poyo.”

“Okay. **FLAME!** ”

“ **BURNING ATTACK!** ” That weird voice from the first Puyo battle we had was back as Kirby cloaked himself in a big fireball and dashed forward with great force. Fusing together with my own fireballs as he headed straight for Flamberge.

“ **Oh, no you don’t!** " Flamberge shouted as she blocked the flame-covered Kirby with her fire sword. The clash was powerful. Each was pushing each other back with little force. But in the end, it was Kirby who got the upper hand. As he exploded the fire all over. Sending Flamberge down to the snowy-white ground with a little smoke coming from her.

 

“ **GAH! JAMBLASTED! NOT ONLY DID I LOSE TO THE STUBBY PINK THING AGAIN, BUT TO THIS BLONDE GIRL, TOO! SO INFURIATING!!!!** ”

“Yeah! Nice job, little buddy!” I cheered.

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered as we both hi-fived each other.

“Bah! Whatever! You ain’t getting any help from us! Come on, Francisca!”

Flamberge flew off away from us, but for only for a short distance. Because what was said next was something no one expected.

“Flamberge. I think we should help them.”

“What?!” We all said in shock.

“Francisca, are you crazy?!” Flamberge got angry. “You’re saying we should help them?! After what just happened?! And especially after what they did to Lord Hyness?!”

“Believe me. I’m still upset about that as well. But what I saw just now…it’s not something we can just ignore.”

“Huh?”

Francisca then turned to face me.

“So, I’m guessing that you know about the legend. Am I right?” She asked.

“Yeah, I do. It stated that I must collect the Puyo Souls and use them with the hidden power of the Light Soul to defeat the Dark Soul. Which ended up turning into a clone of me named Dark Red Amitie. And now, she’s working with Zan. And the two of them have created clones of my friends. If I don’t stop them, the universe is doomed. So that’s why we’re asking if you have any idea where she could be.”

“I see. Well, I’m sorry, Amitie. But we really don’t know where Zan ran off to. We’ve been stuck here for days trying to find a way off.”

“I see. Well, fiddlesticks.” I was feeling let down.

“But…if you take us back to Popstar with you guys, we’ll help you look for her. And even give you this as a sign of gratitude.”

Francisca then pulled out something that we didn’t expect to see or find so easily.

“ **Th-The Blue Puyo Soul?!** ” We shouted.

“Francisca! How long have you had that thing?! We’ve could’ve sold that for food!” Flamberge complained.

“ **No, you lunatic!** ” Adeleine shouted.

“I found this when we first ended up here. I didn’t want to believe at first that the legend was coming true. So I kept it to myself. But now that I know that it is true, you need this more than we do.”

“Thanks a lot, Francisca.” I said as I took the Puyo Soul from her hand. I almost lost my balance. Mainly because I keep forgetting how heavy these things are.

"And of course, we will be giving our assistance as well. Right, Flamberge?"

…

“Flamberge?”

“ ** _Grr…_** Fine! Anything to get off this frozen death trap!” I could tell that Flamberge was still upset about this whole thing, but gave in because of Francisca.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s get back on the ship and head back to Popstar.” Adeleine said.

“Yeah!” Everyone else cheered. We were excited that not only did we had two more people to help us out, but we also got the third Puyo Soul. We were getting closer to saving this universe from total annihilation. But…

“ _Uh…g-guys. A-A little help…?_ ” I asked as I struggled to carry the crystalized Puyo over to the ship.

**_*whine*_ ** _So heavy!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap! This story has reached 30 chapters! Doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight, right? Well, you’re wrong.
> 
> That’s right. I’ve planned out the rest of the story from the next chapter all the way to the end. Not revealing much, but just know that there’s going to be at least 16 more chapters. No less, possibly more, but it’s 16 until the end.
> 
> Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Next up are dessert worlds. And starting it off is one level that’s been requested for a long LONG time. Thanks for reading. Later.


	31. The Battle With Rivals

**Starship of the Ancients – Lor Starcutter**

 

After a huge struggle to get the Puyo Soul onto the ship, I was sitting around the main area with Misuki. Both of us were eating one of the many sweets Lemres had brought with him. We were getting hungry and there wasn’t a way to get food in outer space. So this was our only option.

“Wow. The third Puyo Soul. We only need two more, Ami.” Misuki said.

“Yeah. We are. Which means we’re halfway from taking on Amitwo and defeating her for good. But there’s no doubt that she’ll be extremely powerful by the time we get the remaining three.”

“Yeah. No to mention the clones of the others roaming around somewhere.”

“I still believe she went this far just to accomplish that evil goal of hers. She truly is a psychopath.”

“It’s so weird how someone like her came from someone like you. It’s like polar opposites.”

“I know. I didn’t think I had such an evil persona deep within me. It’s actually scary now that I think about it.”

I actually felt myself shaking a bit out of fear. I knew how much power Amitwo has within her. And how insane it can get at times. I mean, I fought her face-to-face back on Shiver Star and nearly died from it. The legend didn’t specifically say how powerful she can get. But if I don’t stop her soon, Dream Land is sure to fall because of it.

As I continue to shake in fear, I felt Misuki wrap her arms around me and started hugging me for comfort.

“Ami. It’s okay. You’re not alone in this. You’ve got me and the others. **PLUS** the many residents of Dream Land too. We’ve got two different worlds fighting alongside each other. If we keep at it, we'll defeat her for sure."

Misuki’s speech…it really touched me just now. The fact that she has so much confidence right now. It made all fear leave from my body and mind. And made me feel just as peppy as I’m always am.

"Wow, Misuki. Thanks a lot for…wait a minute…" I was about to thank her for said speech when I remembered something from a few days ago.

“Misuki. Let me see your hands.”

“Huh? Where’s this coming from?” She asked.

“Just do it.” I was already sounding annoyed.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Fine.” Misuki unwrapped herself from me and showed both of her hands to me. “See? Really nice hands, huh?”

“Yeah. They’re nice. Now show me the third hand that you’re hiding under your shirt.”

“ **Wh-What?! H-How did you know?!** ”

"Misuki. I sleep over at your place every weekend. I know a vast majority of your magic spells and potions. **Now show it!** ”

“ ** _*whine*_** _Fine._ ”

Soon, said third hand came out of Misuki’s shirt holding the one thing I was looking for…

…her cell phone.

“ **I KNEW IT! YOU WERE READING ANOTHER QUOTE OFF THE INTERNET, WERE YOU?!** ” I shouted.

"Well, what do you expect, Ami?! I've already said that I'm not good at being sentimental!"

“ ** _*sigh*_** I know. But you could at least try sometimes. Without the internet.”

Then something hit me again.

“Wait, how are you getting service out here?!”

“Geez, there you two are.” We heard Arle’s voice as she came towards us. “Everyone’s looking for you both. We’re about to land back in Dream Land.”

“I see. Guess breaktime’s over, then.” I said as I got up from the floor.

“Yeah, I guess.” Misuki said as she got up from the floor. The third arm disappearing from her shirt as she started walking.

…

…

“ ** _WITCH!!!_** ” Arle shouted as she followed both of us to the main area of the ship.

 

**World of Peace – Dream Land**

 

We soon landed back on the beautiful landscape known as Dream Land. Seeing it once again as we were landing reminded me of the first day Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and I first came here with Kirby. It brought so many peaceful memories back into my mind. And I could really use some peace right about now.

Once we fully landed, some of the others went off to do their own thing for a while. Dedede went to check on his castle, while Susie went to see if she could help Taranza with clearing up more Puyos. Yu was still upset about being a human. So Rei, with the help of Chilly, said they'll find a spooky area they could go to. Magolor told them that there's a haunted circus in a place called Lollipop Land nearby. So they went there.

And to be honest, that made me jealous.

 **_*whine*_ ** _I wanna go to Lollipop Land!_

Which left some of the others to remain on the ship for now. So now it was just me, Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Lidelle, Misuki, and Maguro from our world. And Kirby, Adeleine, Ribbon, Bandanna-Dee, and Marx showing us the rest of this world. With Francisca and Flamberge tagging along with us. As there were 3 more Puyo Souls to find.

“So, where should we go next?” Ringo asked.

“Well…I’m getting some strange signals from Gigabyte Grounds. You could try there.” Magolor said.

“Gigabyte Grounds?” Arle asked.

“It’s a desert area around here.” Adeleine said.

“That’s a weird name for a desert.” Lidelle said.

“Well, you’ll see why it got the name once we get there.”

“Hmm…these signals…I can sense a strong power coming from the desert.” Francisca said. “Wait…it’s Zan’s!”

“ **Zan’s at the desert?!** ” Flamberge shouted. “ **Gaaah! Jamblasted! The nerve of her! Ditching us on that frozen moon while she gets warm here! When I find her…** ”

“Flamberge. Please calm down.”

“So Zan’s somewhere in the desert, huh?” I asked. “And I bet one of the clones is there, too.”

“I still can’t believe there are **actual** clones of use just roaming around here! Just who the hell does that clone think she is?! Cloning me without my permission!” Raffina yelled.

“Wait, so you would be okay with having a clone of you if the person asked first?” Maguro asked.

…

“W-Well, I…”

“Weirdo.” Marx said.

“ **Shut it!** ”

“Anyway…” Adeleine jumped in. “Gigabyte Grounds is down south from here. Should be there in a couple minutes.”

“Alrighty, then! Let’s go, little buddy!” I cheered.

“Poyo poyo!”

“Good luck, everyone.” Magolor said to us.

“Please do be careful.” Lemres added.

Gooey waved his tongue as a way of saying good luck.

We all agreed as we started heading our way to the desert areas of Dream Land. To continue our search for the Puyo Souls and hopefully save this world from utter destruction.

_We won’t fail. We’ll save this world. I just know it!_

 

**Poison Refinery – Gigabyte Grounds**

 

About an hour’s trip later, we reached the desert area of Dream Land. With the first section of it being named Gigabyte Grounds.

And at first glance, it didn’t look anywhere near like a desert.

There were these metal pipes everywhere. Some were so big, it looked like we could climb over and even **walk** on top of them. And even some parts of the sand were metal plates. And then there were these giant fork statues that looked like they were just decoration. Some even had little spaghetti noodles on them. It was kinda cute.

But what wasn’t cute (and maybe even scary) were these giant blenders that were all over this place. They seemed to be connected to the sand and they were mixing something inside. Some kind of dark and icky liquid.

This wasn’t how **ANY** of us visitors imagined how a desert looks like.

“Uh…hey, Kirby. Are you guys **_sure_** this is a desert?” I asked.

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Yeah. It’s a desert, alright.” Adeleine added. “It may not look like one, but this place is a desert.”

“But…how did it…turn into **this**?” Ringo asked.

“Well, you can thank Susie for that.”

“ **Huh?! Susie did this?!** ”

“It was back when she worked for that company a while back. It actually invaded Popstar and turned everything mechanical. Luckily, Kirby was able to fix everything. Susie even helped at the end.”

“But for some reason, this area never reverted back.” Ribbon added.

“I see. Sounded like another big adventure, huh little buddy?” I asked Kirby.

“Poyo.”

“But still…if Susie worked for this company, why’d she stopped their plans?” Misuki asked.

Adeleine and Ribbon looked at each other with exhausting looks on their faces.

“ _It’s actually pretty complicated._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“I see. Well anyway, if I can somehow copy this design and turn it into a potion…”

“Witch. No.” Arle said to her.

“What?! You don’t even know what I’m going to do with it!”

“I don’t care. No.”

“Primp is better off without one of your daily explosions.” Ringo added.

“ **H-Hey! I-I’m getting better!** ”

“No, Witch. You’re not.” Lidelle said.

“ **J-Jerks!** ”

“Don’t worry, Misuki.” I said to her. “Even though I’ve got this Copy Ability now, I’m still in the same boat as you.”

“Really? Thanks, Ami.”

“No problem. After all, we are…”

“ **FAILURES FOR LIFE!!!** ” We both shouted as we gave each other a hug.

…

…

“Failures for life?” Marx asked.

“It’s a long story.” Arle answered him while facepalming herself.

 

As we continued our trek through this mechanized desert, we started seeing more of these giant blenders everywhere. And they were each mixing around the same icky liquid from before. It was quite odd, to be honest. If this desert is still like a factory, then what’s it making?

“Hey, guys. What’s this stuff inside the giant blenders?” I asked.

“Uh…I’ve actually never been here before. So I don’t know.” Adeleine said.

“Me neither.” Ribbon added.

“I don’t have a clue.” Marx said.

“This place is rather unfamiliar to us.” Francisca said.

“As if I would know!” Flamberge yelled.

“I see. Do you know, Kirby?” I asked him.

Kirby actually thought about it for a bit. Not sure how long ago was this particular adventure, it was looking like he was having a hard time remembering.

“Poyo…”

“Don’t remember, huh? Well, that’s a bummer.”

“Do you know what it is, Dee?” Adeleine asked.

After looking at one of them, Bandanna-Dee nodded at us and started writing the answer on his board. He then showed it to us once he was finished.

What he wrote down…was something none of us expected to be the answer. Let alone, a thing.

“ _It’s poison._ ”

“ **P…POISON?!** ” We all shouted in pure shock.

“ **What the hell?! Why is there poison in the giant blenders?!** ” Raffina asked.

“ _When the Haltmann Works Company invaded Popstar, it turned this desert into a poison-making refinery. It was unclear what they planned to use it for. And to this day, nobody really knows._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“Wow. That’s…creepy.” I said. I then looked at the nearest poison-blending giant blenders from us.

“But…then again…it is pretty neat-o.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Lidelle asked.

“Well, it’s just…I can’t really explain it too well. Maybe if I can get a closer look…” I then started running over to the giant blender. Hoping to get a good look at this thing. I didn’t really pay attention to much else.

Which is my own dang fault.

“ **Amitie! Look out!** ” I heard Raffina yell out to me….

“Huh? What was…”

…But it took me a while to notice the giant roller that I had no idea where it came from heading towards me. There was no way someone like would be able to stop it, so I started panicking and tried to run a little. But I ended up tripping over one of the wires from the blender. So I was a sitting duck while the roller kept getting closer.

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!** ” I screamed. Not having anything else to do. I thought I was a goner once again.

But then…

“ **SWORD BEAM!** ”

The roller suddenly broke into pieces due to a sharp beam that just came out of nowhere.

Or so I thought.

Because not long after, someone appeared in front of me. It took a while for me to see who it was due to the dust. But the shape of the shadow looked all too familiar to me.

_Is that…Dark Meta Knight?_

I was about to call out to the person, but then the dust cleared. And I was able to see the shadow more clearly.

I was confused at first. It looked like him, but the colors are different. Then it hit me.

_This must be the original Meta Knight._

“Are you alright?” He asked me.

“Uh…y-yeah. J-Just fine. Thanks for the help.”

“ **Amitie!** ” I heard the others yell as they were heading towards us in a hurry.

“I’m fine, guys. Really, I am.”

“It was nothing but pure luck that I just happened to be nearby. These blenders are equipped with a security system that activates whenever someone draws near.” Meta Knight explained.

“I see.” Adeleine said. “Well, thanks for the help, Meta Knight.”

“Yes, thank you.” Raffina said. “Amitie here can be a bit of a klutz.”

“ **H-Hey!** ” I got insulted by the insult. Even though I know I’m a klutz, I don’t like it when people actually call me one.

“Hmm…so this is Amitie? The girl from the legend?” Meta Knight asked.

“Huh? Wait, you know about the legend?” I asked.

“I’ve heard rumors of its existence. A magician made a magic hat to purify his loved one’s soul. But failed, and created the Dark Soul. And now the Light Soul must defeat it before universal destruction. That should sum it up, I suppose?”

“Yeah. That’s the gist of it. And with me being the Light Soul, it’s now my responsibility.”

“Hmph. You, the Light Soul? How did the legend mess up **_that_** badly?”

“ **Hey! Who said that?!** ” I shouted. Clearly upset from the insult.

“Over here.” The new voice said. It sounded so familiar. But when we looked behind us and saw who it was, Arle and Misuki…

“ **Schezo?!** ”

…weren’t really that happy.

“Huh. Arle and Witch. Didn’t think you two would show up here. Not like you had a reason to.”

“We could say the same about you, pervert.” Misuki said.

“ **Tch! Cease labeling me as a pervert at once!** ” And of course, Schezo got angry.

“We would…if you would stop saying things that make you sound like one, pervert.” Arle said.

“ **Silence! Keep pushing my buttons and I’ll _claim your bodies_ with no hesitation!** ”

“ ** _*sigh*_** ” Arle and Misuki facepalmed hard after hearing what Schezo just said.

You see, Schezo has this weird speech problem. In which he’ll say things in a “perverted” way, but it doesn’t actually mean it. Thus, people call him a pervert.

Which, 9 times out of 10, makes whatever situation worse.

“Wh-What the heck is wrong with this guy?” Adeleine asked. Her face was all red from what she just heard.

"A-Adeleine. I-I'm scared." Ribbon added. Her face was also completely red.

“S-Sorry, you guys.” Arle said. “This is Schezo, someone from our world.”

“And unfortunately, him saying stuff like that is actually normal.” Misuki added.

“Huh? Stuff like what? What did that even mean?” Flamberge asked.

“I agree with Flamberge. I don’t understand either.” Francisca said.

“Seemed like a normal threat to me.” Meta Knight said.

“Poyo.”

The rest of us looked on in shock after hearing this.

_W-Wait! D-Do they seriously **NOT** know what an innuendo is?!_

“Wait. Do you guys seriously don’t get it?” Arle asked.

“ _I get it. But it wouldn’t feel right with me explaining it._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“Ha! It feels right with me!” Marx gloated. “You see, what he meant was…”

***POW***

“ **SHUT UP, MARX!** ” Raffina and Adeleine shouted as they both punched Marx on his head.

“Look, Schezo. What are you even doing here?” Misuki asked him.

“How should I know? I was just minding my own business when this strange light just showed up and sent me here. And after days of walking, I met Meta Knight. And he told me that the legend was active.”

“Wait, how do you know about the legend?” I asked.

“I have my ways.” Schezo said as he turned away from us. “But to think that the Light Soul would be Amitie of all people…I would’ve thought it would be passed down to someone stronger and with a bigger set of brains.”

“ **S-Seriously?! More insults?!** ”

“ **Hey, Schezo! Amitie’s a great Light Soul!** ” Arle yelled.

“ **Yeah! She’s doing a hell of a lot better than what you can possibly can!** ” Raffina added.

“Hmph. Really, now? I don’t suppose you want to prove that, do you?”

“What? You mean a Puyo battle?” I asked.

“What else, you ditz?”

_Gah! These insults have got to stop!_

“Alright, Schezo! You’re on! I’ll show you the true power of the Light Soul!” I yelled out of anger.

“Heh. Very well then. _Be my desire, Light Soul._ I promise my _advances_  will _enter your body swiftly!_ ”

“ **A-Are you freaking kidding me?!** ” Adeleine shouted. Her face was completely red again from listening to Schezo’s speech.

“Hmm…this all sounds interesting to me.” Meta Knight said. “I shall join the battle as well. I hope you don’t mind, Schezo.”

“Not at all.”

“Huh?! 2 against 1?! How is that fair?!” Lidelle asked.

“Don’t worry, Lidelle. I got this under control.” I said to calm her down.

“Alright. Let’s…”

“Puyo battle!” Meta Knight and Schezo yelled as we started the battle.

 

**Rival Battle – Meta Knight & Schezo**

_Geez. Me and my big mouth. I always hated 2-on-1 battles. But the fact that Schezo kept insulting me was starting to tick me off. It would’ve been fine if it was just him, but it’s him **and** Meta Knight I’m fighting against. I have no idea how strong he is._

As I was having this thought, I was stacking hopefully enough Puyo to at least counter their attacks. One swordsman was bad enough, but two?! I can only hope I get out of this unscathed.

_Th-This should be enough…_

“ **SWORD BEAM!** ”

“ **TUNDER STORM!** ”

_Shoot! They already started attacking! I gotta do the same!_

“ **FLAME!** " I shot my fireballs. Blocking both of their attacks and leaving a cloud of dust in the air.

“Hm. Impressive.” Meta Knight said.

“Tch! Please. That’s just her weakest attack.” Schezo said.

“Do I still need to prove it to you, Schezo? Then fine! So be it!” I yelled.

As the Puyo walls on both sides continue to shrink, I kept getting more power from the magic they created. And with that, I decided to change into a different ability.

“ **ICE!** ” I shouted before changing into said ability.

“She already has the Ice Ability.” Meta Knight said.

“Bah. Still not impressed. She’s still weak, for all I know.”

“ **Quit calling me weak!** ” I shouted with rage. I then spawned a bunch of ice blocks in front of me and bunched them up together.

“ **ICE KICK!** ”

I kicked every last one of them, 7 in all, at the swordsman duo. Meta Knight dodged out the way. But Schezo, being how he is, sliced most of them into pieces.

“ **SHADOW EDGE!** ”

“ **MACH TORNADO!** ”

Schezo shot a bunch of sharp blue blades from his sword. While Meta Knight spawned a group of tornados that circled around each other. Then, the two attacks merged together into one big attack. And it struck me really hard. Sending me back a few feet.

“Ha! Is that all you got, Amitie?! For being the Light Soul, you don’t seem to be much of a threat!” Schezo yelled in a taunting way.

“Perhaps…the legend was wrong all along.” Meta Knight added.

“Of course, it was. No legend would **_ever_** let a ditzy weakling save the universe.”

That word again. For some reason…I can never escape that word. I would hear it almost every day and it would hurt me inside. That damn word is like a curse that can’t be broken. And every time I hear it…

…I get filled up with rage.

“ _Damn you…_ ”

“ _Damn you…_ ”

“ _Damn you…_ ”

“ **DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!** ” I shouted.

I felt a rush of power flowing through my body. Which, for some reason, felt so familiar to me. I noticed that my body was a swirly mix of white and light pink. And my eyesight, although crystal clear, made everything look light-pink. I saw that I was glowing a light-pink hue all over. And these gray angelic bat-like wings with hexagon-shaped scales…I feel like…I've seen them before.

“ **WAAAAAAA!!! AMITIE’S TURNED INTO THAT SCARY FORM AGAIN!!!** ” Ringo shouted in fear. I paid no attention to the others. As my focus was on the swordsman who challenged me to this battle in the first place.

“ **DAMN YOU, DARK WIZARD! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR CALLING ME WEAK!** ” I shouted.

“ **Tch!** Th-That doesn’t look good.” Schezo said as he and the others looked towards me.

I then flew up to the sky and raised both my arms in the air. Spawning a large pink ball of electricity with a bunch of stars above my head. It kept getting bigger and bigger…until it was the size of a meteor.

And then, with only one hand, I aimed it at Schezo.

“ **W-WAIT! A-AMITIE! WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ST-STOP!** ” I heard Arle pled out to me, but I didn’t listen. My mind was just filled with so much rage, that I just blocked out anyone who got in my way.

“ **MIRACLE BEAM!** " I shouted with all my might. Before throwing the meteor-sized electric ball at Schezo. As everyone moved out the way, fleeing for their lives, Schezo remained standing. He raised his sword up in an attempt to block the attack that was heading towards him at lightning speed.

“ **ARIEADO SPE-** ”

 He tried to block it...but failed. And the eletroball exploded in the exact same spot where the dark wizard stood.

I remember giggling a bit at the sight of the explosion. But then, I felt weak. I couldn’t keep myself awake. And I remember passing out and failing back down to the ground. Reverting back to normal in the process.

 

“Amitie…Amitie!”

“ _H-Huh? Wh-What…h-happened?_ ” I asked as I woke up from what felt like a nap.

“You, Schezo, and Meta Knight were in the middle of a battle when you started yelling and then turned into that scary form again!” Ringo said to me.

…

“Huh? Ringo…what are you talking about?” I asked after giving her a blank stare.

“Don’t tell me you seriously don’t remember! This is **EXACTLY** like last time!” Arle yelled.

“Wait! This happened before?!” Misuki asked.

“Yeah! Around the time she fought…”

“ **MARX!** ” Raffina shouted as she grabbed Marx by his hat. “ **YOU CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN LAST TIME! WHAT THE HELL HAPPEN TO AMITIE?!** ”

“ **You’re asking me?! I don’t know! The only reason this happened last was because of the hat! Why it happened again, I can’t tell ya!** ” Marx yelled.

“ ** _Why you lying little…_** ”

“He’s not lying.” Meta Knight said as he walked up to us.

“Huh? Meta Knight, what are you talking about?” Adeleine asked.

Just as he was about to explain, Schezo started making grunts of pain as he tried to get up on his own.

“ _Tch. I can’t believe it. I actually lost to Amitie._ ” He said.

“Yes. You have. But at least we now know the state of her power.” Meta Knight said to him.

“You never said I had a chance of dying!”

“I tried to. But you ran off before I could say anything.”

“ _Gah…_ ” Schezo let out an exhausted groan as he fully stood back up on two feet.

“Wait a sec! What’s going on?!” Raffina asked.

“Was this planned?!” Arle asked.

“In short, yes. This battle was planned.” Meta Knight answered.

“What the…”

“ ** _Schezo! You better explain yourself if you don’t want to be crushed by an actual meteor!_** ” Misuki yelled while pointing her broom at him in a threating way.

“Calm down, will you?” He said. “This was just a simple test.”

“A test?” We all asked.

“When I first met you girls through the screen days ago, it had me thinking about the legend. And what damage the Dark Soul could cause if it ever broke out from the seal.” Meta Knight explained. “As I was returning from Another Dimension, I ran into Schezo. And after learning that he knows the legend, he and I devised a plan to see if you were ready to continue, Amitie.”

“And seeing how you almost killed me, I’d say you are.” Schezo added.

“I see.” I said. “But the thing is, I don’t remember even fighting you guys. Or the part where everyone’s saying that I turned into some kind of form.”

"That form was because of the true power of the Light Soul being awakened. It happens whenever a certain trigger is pushed. In your case, it happens when someone calls you weak."

“So whatever **_that_** was…it happened because you called her weak?” Ringo asked.

"It's a mixture of the Light Soul powers and the anger that builds up inside her whenever she hears that word." Meta Knight said. "That form...is known as the Negative Soul."

“Th…The Negative Soul?” Adeleine asked.

“Wh-Why does everything here have a scary name?” Lidelle whined.

“N-Now that I think about it…I do get really angry when people call me weak. It flat out pisses me off! **Just thinking about it makes me rage!** ” I shouted. Slowly getting angry the more I thought of that word.

“A-Ami! Calm down! I-It’s over! The battle’s over!”

“Poyo! Poyo!”

“Huh?” Raffina and Kirby had calmed me down enough to come back to my senses. “O-Oh. S-Sorry, you guys.”

“That’s the only thing you don’t have control over yet. Once you do, however…you’ll be able to face the Dark Soul in battle.” Meta Knight said before turning away from us and walking away.

“W-Wait! H-How do I control such a thing like the Negative Soul?!” I asked.

“I can’t tell you much. But one thing I can suggest is…try to control your anger, Amitie.”

Meta Knight then disappeared through the same means Dark Meta Knight would disappear. Leaving us with a mix of confusion and fear.

“Get real. So now my anger is a part of this legend? Just how far does this thing go?”

“Well, there a lot more to it.” Schezo said. “But it would be too much of a hassle to explain to any of you people.”

“ ** _You people?!_** ” Most of us shouted in anger (the only ones who didn’t were Kirby, Lidelle, and Maguro. Bandanna-Dee can’t talk. So of course, he gets a pass as well).

That’s when Arle and Misuki walked up to Schezo looking as upset as the rest of us (if not more).

“ **BAYOEN!** ”

“ **BIG BANG!** ”

They both shot their most powerful spells at Schezo. Sending him flying across the mechanized desert and becoming harder to see. His screams of fear were even getting harder to hear.

“ **DAMN PERVERTED JERK!** ” They both shouted. I sighed of exhaustion not long after.

“You okay, Ami?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah. I think I’m okay.”

_But I could seriously use a break…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meta Knight FINALLY makes an appearance. And along with Schezo, who he just happened to run into, they reveal to Amitie another side of her. One that can be quite dangerous if not under control.
> 
> First off, Gigabyte Grounds was suggested by GirlOnDarkerSide for the longest time. So sorry that it took so long to use it. I never forgot, if that’s what you ended up thinking (I could understand).
> 
> Second, the other form was going to be called the Negative Light Soul (based on negative light), but I felt like the name was too long. So I went with the current name. Still fits, though.
> 
> And third, chapter 1 of this story has recently passed 1,000 views! I seriously cannot explain the sheer gratefulness I have for you guys reading this story. All I can really say at this moment is…uh…thanks.
> 
> Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Don’t expect another update to this story for a few days. Still working on Love of Puyo Puyo rewrite (and this story wears me out sometimes). Thanks for reading. Later.


	32. Amitie's Favorite Copy Ability

It wasn’t long after that (apparently planned) battle with Meta Knight and Schezo. With the latter being blasted off by Arle and Misuki due to his insults. And now we were continuing our walk through Gigabyte Grounds. Hoping to find a lead to the next Puyo Soul.

The deeper we went into this “desert”, the more recurring the poison became. At this point, there were gallons of it being dumped out through a pipe and a bunch of poisonous clouds were flowing everywhere.

And to be honest, I was really interested with it all. I know poison is a bad thing, but thanks to me helping Misuki out with her potions I’ve been really interested in chemicals and stuff of that nature. Mixing stuff together to see what comes up was always super exciting. Like opening a Christmas present every single day. It was one of the many highlights of sleeping over at Misuki’s every weekend.

And I was getting the same kind of excitement here as well.

“You seem to be pretty interested with this poison, Amitie.” Francisca said to me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s a recent interest, though. I often help out Misuki with her potions back home. Some were kinda like this.”

“I see.”

“You two are making potions together?” Arle asked Misuki.

“Yeah. That just proves that I’m getting better…a-at a slow pace, I mean.”

“ _Right…_ ” Arle still didn’t believe her when she says she’s getting better. She really is. Just…not as fast as either one of us thought it would take.

“Working progress” is what I’m trying to say.

We then saw Bandanna-Dee walk up to the poison being dumped right under us and then started writing on his board. What he wrote…it made me more excited than I was a few seconds ago.

“ _You know Amitie. There is a Poison Ability. You can probably use this to your advantage._ ”

“ **Whoa, whoa, whoa! Get really real! There’s a Poison Ability?!** ”

“ _It’s recently new. So very few people know about it._ ”

“ **Neat-o! I SO want to use it! I want the Poison Ability!** ” I shouted with glee.

“A-Amitie. L-Let’s be serious here.” Ringo said. “D-Do you **_really_** need to use poison?”

“It’s not a “need”, Ringo. It’s a “want”.”

“Yeah, but poison? How did you get interested in that?” Lidelle asked.

“Misuki told me about it.”

“ _Oh, really now?_ ” Arle and Raffina looked over at Misuki, who was trying to sneak off to avoid being in this conversation. But wasn’t fast enough.

“ ** _Witch…_** ” Arle said.

“ _Care to explain?_ ” Raffina asked.

“U-Um, well…you see. I-It kinda went like this…”

***BEGIN FLASHBACK***

“A book?” I looked confused.

“It’s a special book that a friend of mine let me keep. It has a bunch of spells and potions in here. And even explains how to do them.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yeah! And I thought that we could do one together!”

“Seriously?! You want that?!”

 “Sure. I mean why not, right? We both want to be better at magic and spells. This is like a cheat guide. Come on, Misuki.”

I gave this much thought. I normally don’t follow the instructions of magic books due to them being too complex (and the fact that I’m too lazy to read the damn thing). But if Ami wants to do this, and believes that we can get better with this, then I at least had to try.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Alright, Ami.” I said.

“Yay!” Ami cheered. “Let’s each pick one together!”

As we looked through the book together, we actually found tons of spells that we liked. There were even some that we never knew existed. It was a hard choice and indeed a rare find.

For us I mean.

“Woah! Look at this!” Ami said. “There’s a Plasma spell, an ESP spell… **Ooo!** **I can even learn a Poison spell!** ”

“W-Why would you need a Poison spell?!” I yelled out of shock.

“Duh! Just in case I get attacked or kidnapped.”

“You actually think that will happen?”

“You don’t know what’s out there, Misuki. It’s best to be prepared.”

“Yeah, but…”

After minutes of talking, I (somehow) eventually talked Ami out of trying to learn the Poison Spell. She really wanted to learn it, but I kept telling her that it’s too dangerous. And convinced her to try the Plasma Spell.

 ** _*phew*_** _That was a close one. Hopefully, this won’t come back to bite me in the ass in the future…_

***END FLASHBACK***

“…And that’s what happened. Since then, her interest in poison and pretty much chemicals as a whole only grew more. Which is why she helps me a lot at my shop.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Geez, you two. You’re gonna end up destroying our world if this keeps up.” Arle said.

“It’s nothing bad or anything. Just some potion-mixing and a… ** _few_** explosions or so.”

“ _Few?_ ” Ringo asked.

“ _Or so?_ ” Maguro asked.

“Look, it’s a working progress okay?! Just lay off already!” Misuki started to pout.

“ _Right…_ ” Arle said.

“And stop saying “Right” like that!”

“Are you really okay with this, Amitie? I mean, do you even know how to use the Ability’s attacks?” Raffina asked me.

“It’s fine Raffina. I can just learn from Kirby. Right, little buddy?”

“Poyo!”

“Well…there’s nothing wrong with having more Abilities.” Adeleine said.

“Have you heard of it?” Raffina asked.

“Well…no. But like Dee said, very few people do.”

“I’m kinda interested.” Ribbon said.

"If they're poisonous attacks, then they're sure to do massive or even **DEADLY** damage. **_*giggle*_** ” Marx said.

“You sounded **_really_** creepy when you said that.” Lidelle said to him.

“Thank you. It’s the universal power that embodies my soul. It makes me **_SUPER_** creepy.”

“ _More like **SUPER** annoying._ ” Adeleine whispered to Raffina, who then quietly giggled afterward.

“Anyway, enough wasting time. I’m doing it.” I said.

“A-Amitie. You’re not getting the…”

“Too late!” I cut Ringo off as I placed my left index finger into the body of poison below us. I felt the power surge through my body as I stepped back from it in excitement.

Suddenly my arms started twitching. And they began turning into bubbling vortexes of a bluish-purple poisonous liquid. My fingers were gone, both arms ending with bubbles instead. And they both grew a little thicker too.

Lastly, the part of my hair that would usually change color depending on the Ability…didn’t change this time. All it did was gained a skull hairpin. A pretty cute one, to be honest.

“Holy crap…” Misuki said. The rest were pretty much speechless as what my version of the Poison Ability looked like. Me, on the other hand…I was pretty freaking excited.

“Woah. **SO COOL!!!** ” I shouted.

“ **THIS** is cool?!” Raffina yelled.

“Amitie! You have no fingers!” Arle yelled.

“ _I think it’s only because of the Ability. Her fingers should return when she changes Abilities._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain why her arms changed like that.”

Bandanna-Dee thought for a moment. Then wrote something else on his board.

“ _Maybe her arms are her way of attacking._ ”

“He’s got a point.” Maguro said. “Know any attacks, Amitie?”

“Well, I could try to figure it out. I mean I did for the others.”

I looked at my right poisonous arm as it soon after started to form a poison ball from the top. It gave me an idea for an attack.

“ **Sticky Toxin!** ”

I threw the poison ball forward. Landing on the ground and forming a toxic puddle on the same spot.

“Woah!” Arle said.

“You can throw poison balls?! And they leave a puddle wherever they land?! That’s so cool, Ami!” Misuki cheered.

“Right?! I told you using poison was fun!”

“ _Now that I think about it, Some of Poison’s moves are quite similar to Water’s._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“Similar…to **Water**?” Adeleine asked.

“ _No one really knows the connection. They just have one for some reason._ ”

“I see.” I said. “So the Poison equivalent to Surf would be…” I started thinking for a bit. Then the name of the attack came to my mind like I knew the answer to one of Ms. Accord’s surprise tests.

I placed both my arms on the floor and started running in front of me.

“ **Toxic Slide!** ”

I then started surfing on a giant wave of poison with my arms adding more to it. I then decided to stop, but the wave dispersed and flung a bunch of poison balls ahead of me. Each making a puddle on the ground.

“Riding a poisonous wave? How is that possible?” Ringo asked.

“Gah! This girl is so hard to understand!” Flamberge yelled. “Why are we even helping her, Francisca?!”

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to get back at Zan?” Francisca asked.

“Well…yeah, but…I want to at least not look like an idiot with all this “soul” stuff!”

“Even if you did knew, you would still look like an idiot.” Marx said.

“For once, Marx. I agree with you.” Adeleine added.

“ **What?!** ” Clearly, Flamberge got insulted.

“Anyway…” Raffina interrupted. “Now that you got your Poison Ability, Amitie, can we please go now? This poison is making me nauseous.”

“Sure, Raffina. I’m ready to go.” Once I said that, Raffina covered her mouth like she was going to puke or something.

“ _A-Amitie…_ **YOUR BREATH STINKS!** ” She yelled, still with her hand over her face.

“Huh? Does my breath really stink?” I asked the others. They soon started reacting the same way as Raffina. As in they were nearly about to puke.

“ ***groan*** Do you think it stinks, little buddy?” I asked Kirby.

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“You don’t smell anything?”

“ _L…Lucky._ ” Lidelle barely said.

I then breathed out onto my poisonous hand and caught a whiff of the scent that everyone seems to say it stinks. After one sniff, though…

“Huh. Smells like poison.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Back to writing this. I want to explain to you guys why I’m taking longer to update this story.
> 
> It takes a lot of research to write a chapter. I have to research the area I want to use (the background, the environment, how big it is, obstacles (if any)), the characters that get added (for both series), the bosses and how their attack pattern is, and even the Abilities. It’s a lot of work, but I want to make each thing as accurate as possible. Which is why I stopped doing back-to-back updates for this story.
> 
> I’m still very appreciated for all of you who like and enjoy this story so much. It makes me happy that it’s getting so much attention.
> 
> By the way, the flashback is a part taken from Magical Alteration. This story is not a sequel to that, it’s just adding the Poison Ability made me think of that. So it’s like a little Easter Egg. It was also changed to be in Witch’s POV instead of Amitie’s. It fitted with the story more.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Later.


	33. Desert-Night Dialogue

**Starry-Night Desert – Sand Canyon**

 

_(Based on the 4 th level of Sand Canyon.)_

Soon after getting the Poison Ability (my favorite one by far), we got through Gigabyte Grounds and ended up at a part of the desert named Sand Canyon. I was grateful for many reasons. One was the fact that this place had a normal name for once. And second, it was actually nighttime right now. And the sky was super pretty to look at.

“ ** _*sigh*_** The sky is beautiful in this world.” Ringo said.

“Sure is.” Maguro said. “And it’s easy to see unlike in our world.”

“Yeah, true. The lights make it impossible to see anything. But here, we don’t have to worry about it.”

“Hey, that reminds me…” Adeleine said as she turned to the duo behind her. “I’ve heard that the night sky sets the perfect mood for couples. But I’ve never experienced it myself. Is it really true?”

“Well…I’m not sure.” Ringo said. “I’ve never had that happen to me either.”

“Same for me.” Maguro added.

“Huh? You mean you guys haven’t looked at the sky together? Just the two of you?”

“Together?” Maguro asked.

“Just the two of us?” Ringo asked. “I’m not getting it.”

…

Adeleine went silent for a bit. Then asked the two of them a question Arle and I have been **DYING** to ask since the day we met them.

“Aren’t you two dating?”

“ **D-Dating?!** " The duo shouted while gaining extremely blushed faces. Their reaction was purely hilarious. Me and Arle couldn't stop laughing. We even fell to the sandy ground and continued to laugh. It felt **_so_** good that someone finally asked that. It was bugging us for a while now.

“ **A-A-Adeleine! W-W-We’re not dating! W-We’re just friends!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ _Y-Yeah. J-Just friends._ ” Maguro, on the other hand, didn’t shout at all. In fact, he looked rather shy and embarrassed when he said it. Which was a first for us.

“Really? Wow. That’s odd. You look like you were.” Adeleine said.

“Thank you!” Arle and I said.

“Shut it, you two!” Ringo yelled at us.

“Hey, Adeleine. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask, but couldn’t find a right time.” Raffina said.

“Huh? What is it?” Adeleine asked.

“Is it just you here? Wh-What I mean is…are you really the only human in this world?”

Adeleine went silent once again and this time grew a sad look on her face. It took her a while to answer this. As the reason she’s on this planet is truly dark and disturbing.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Yeah. I am.” She finally answered. “I was the youngest of the remaining survivors. And we each fled to a different planet just in case the aliens tried to come back for us. I don’t know the condition of the other survivors. Or even if they’re still alive. So I just believe that I’m the only one and not talk about it.”

“O-Oh. I’m sorry for bringing it up then.”

“It’s alright, Raffina. Getting something like that off my chest really helped a lot.”

“Well, that’s good…I think.”

 

As we continued to walk through the dark night sky of Sand Canyon, a faint noise was starting to be heard from really far away. It was really hard to tell what it was. But as we kept walking, the noise (now more recognized as a voice). Until we finally saw from a short distance where the voice was coming from.

“I feel it! I feel it! **I feel it!** ”

“Isn’t that Yu, Rei, and Chilly over there?” I asked.

“Looks like them.” Arle said. “Hey, guys!”

We soon got the attention of the trio as they ran/floated/slid over to us.

“ _Yu rang?_ ” Yu asked her most famous question.

“I thought you guys were checking out a haunted house or something.”

“We were.” Rei said.

“Then what are you doing all the way in the desert at night?” I asked.

“Chilly. Chilly chilly.”

“Hey, Lidelle…”

“He said they were at the haunted house in Lollipop Land when Yu started to feel something.” Lidelle translated.

“Chilly chilly chilly chilly. Chilly.”

“They then followed her all the way here where she started shouting about “feeling it”. Although, he has no idea what exactly she’s feeling.”

“I see.”

“Wait, you can understand him?” Francisca asked.

“Yeah. It’s a special talent I have. I used it when we fought Dubior and revealed the legend of the Red Puyo Hat.”

“I see. That’s an interesting talent.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Thank you, Francisca.”

“So anyway, Yu. What exactly were you feeling?” I asked.

“What else? My eternal soul! I sense part of it nearby! And I’m going to get it back!”

“ **Wh-What?!** ” Most of us shouted.

“Huh? What’s an eternal soul?” Flamberge asked.

“It’s something that makes Yu what she really is. A ***gulp*** gh-ghost.” Ringo explained.

“ **And I’m gonna get it back! No evil clone or mage woman is going to keep what’s mine!** ”

“Y-Yu, wait a second! You can’t face that clone on your own!” Lidelle said.

“I’m not on my own. I got Rei and Chilly with me.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Lidelle’s right! We’re coming with you!” Raffina added.

“Huh?!”

“Yu, you’re forgetting that these are clones of Arle, Ringo, Lidelle, and myself. We want to defeat them as much as you do. So we’re going. And we’re not taking no for an answer.”

Yu went silent as she turned away from us. From the looks of it, she really wanted to face the clones on her own and take back her eternal soul without any help. But with her as a human and the clones having her power, her facing even one of them can result in death.

_But now that I think about it…if she died, wouldn’t she turn back into a ghost?_

“ ** _*sigh*_** Okay, fine.” Yu finally gave in. “I sensed it coming from up north.”

“Up north, huh?” Adeleine asked. “Hey, Dee. Isn’t that where the entrance to Radish Ruins is?”

Bandanna-Dee nodded in response to the question.

“The entrance to Radish Ruins?” I asked.

“ _It’s another area in the Mirror World. One way of getting there is to go through Sand Canyon._ ” He wrote.

“I see.”

“Well, what are we doing standing around for? Let’s go already!” Yu yelled as she went on ahead without us.

“H-Hey! Yu! We said wait for us!”

 

We soon caught up with Yu at a giant dome-like cave that looked like it had a face on it. And inside the mouth was a mirror. The same one Bandanna-Dee, Lidelle, and I saw back on Star Lavadom. Unlike that one, though, this one looked…rather ominous.

“Th-This cave. I-It looks rather creepy.” Ribbon said while hiding behind Adeleine.

“Yeah, it kinda does. Even I’m a little creeped out.” Misuki said.

“ **Hey! You undeserving piece of life! Come out here and give me back my eternal soul!** ”

“Yu! Calm down!” I yelled at her.

“ **Calm down?! How can I when one of those soul thieves is around here?! I’m ready to beat down whoever it is!** ” This was a new side of Yu. And it was starting to scare me.

“Rei. She’s your sister. Can’t you do something about her?” I asked him.

“Nothing.” Was all he said.

“Great.”

“ _Are you willing to take that challenge to your grave, you loudmouth mortal?_ ” We heard a voice. I say **_a_** voice because it wasn't exactly new. We've heard this voice before, but it sounded…distorted.

“Wh-Who said that?” I asked.

“ _G-G-Guys. L-L-Look._ ” Ringo stuttered in fear as she pointed upward.

There on top of the dome was a black shadowy figure that was hard to see due to the brightness of the moon. The figure then jumped down and landed in front of us. It was then that we got a good look at what this figure was.

Or…more like **_who_**.

“H-Holy crap…” Misuki said.

“I-Is that…” Adeleine was barely able to talk.

“R-Raffina. I-It’s…” Lidelle stuttered.

“ _My clone…_ ” Raffina said. Slowly getting angry.

It was true. We were now in the presence of Raffina's clone from the Shiver Star Factory. She looked similar to the original Raffina, but with some differences. Her pink hair straightened out instead of the curls in the back. And a bunch of orange markings were all over her body.

Her outfit consisted of an orange short-sleeve jacket with a hood in the back. On the left side of it was the same black soul symbol Amitwo has on her sweater.

The rest of her outfit was a pair of baggy black shorts and a pair of orange and white sneakers. Other things about her were the fact that she was floating, much like Amitwo. And also the angel hairpin that’s usually on her hair is gone. But one thing did stand out about her hair. One of the strands in her hair wasn't pink like the rest.

It was a dark-ish orange color.

“ _So you're this other Raffina I've heard so much about? Geez. When Amitie told me that I was based on you, I thought you would be prettier. But I guess I was wrong. Oh, Da-Ti-La!_ ” Her voice sounded exactly like Raffina’s. But in a distorted, almost creepy tone.

“ ** _Grr…_ Like you’re one to talk!**” Raffina shouted. “ **Look at the crap you’re wearing!** ”

“ _H-Huh?_ ”

“You haven’t noticed?! And yet, you’re **MY** clone! That jacket is **_way_** out of style, those shorts are God-awful, those sneakers are tacky as hell, not a single piece of jewelry anywhere, and what did you do to my hair?! You straighten it out?! What are you, a peasant on the street?! What do you have to say about that, huh?!"

“ _I-I…I-I…_ ” The clone stuttered.

“No! you know what?! Don’t bother explaining! We’re pretty much going to kill you anyway. That way I won’t have to look at that monstrosity you call an outfit. God, I think I almost puked in my mouth when I first saw you.”

“ _I…I…I… ***sniff*** … **WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!**_ ”

“H-Huh?” Arle reacted.

“Is she…crying?” Ringo asked.

“Geez, Raffina. I know she’s an evil clone and all. But did you really had to be so extremely mean like that?” Misuki asked with a look of disapproval.

“B…B-But I…” Raffina didn’t know what to say.

“Uh, Amitie…what the heck just happened?” Adeleine asked me.

“Well…Raffina’s known to be a fashion expert back in our world. And she takes it rather seriously. To the point where, if provoked enough, she'll start criticizing other people's sense of fashion. And in the most brutal way possible, too."

“Br-Brutal?”

“ ** _WAAAAAA! I’M SORRY! I’M DOING THE BEST I CAN! I TRIED EVERYTHING TO LOOK ALL PRETTY! BUT I JUST LOOK UGLY COMPARED TO YOU! I KNEW IT FROM THE START THAT I WAS UGLY! I CAN’T DO ANYTHING WITH THIS HORRIBLE BODY! I’M SO USELESS AND PATHETIC! AND I’M NOT EVEN REAL, TOO! AND NOW I’M GOING TO DIE THIS WAY! WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!_** ” The fake Raffina continued to cry heavy tears as she dropped herself to the sandy ground in a defeated sitting position.

“R-Raffina…”

“I-I-I swear! I-I-I’m not always like this! I’m nice! I really am!” The real Raffina tried to clear her reputation.

“Do you even know what “nice” is?” Marx asked.

“That depends, Marx. Do you even know what my fist is?”

“You’re not really proving your point, Raffina.” Maguro said.

“Tch!” Raffina held back her fist away from Marx. “W-Well, why are you guys looking at me?! Look at the clone! She’s acting really weird. Nothing like me to be exact!”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Does that even matter?” Yu asked. “You guys said that Amitie’s clone made her using my eternal soul. So let’s just kill her already and get part of my ghost self back.” She said that last part while putting her hand right in front of Fake Raffina’s face and started forming fire from it.

“ ** _N-N-Nooo! Pl-Pl-Please don’t! I-If I don’t stop you guys, Amitie’s going to kill me! Please have mercy!_** ”

_Amitie’s going to kill me? Does she mean…_

“ **Hmph!** **Tell that to Satan when you’re burning in the fiery pits of hell, you abomination!** ”

“ ** _WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!_** ”

“ **YU, STOP!** ” I shouted as I stepped in between her and Fake Raffina.

“ **Amitie! Get out the way!** ”

“ **No! I won’t! I don’t know what’s gotten into ya, but you need to calm the hell down! At least let us hear her out!** ”

“ **Hear her out?! But she’s a clone! You said it yourself that they’re trying to destroy this world! And now you want to sympathize with one of them?!** ”

“ **Guy! Help me out here!** ”

The others didn’t say or do anything. In fact, they were rather hesitant to help me with this. Yes, I said that these clones are no doubt evil and are helping Amitwo and Zan destroy this world. But after seeing how Raffina’s clone acted just now, I’m starting to have second thoughts.

“Guys?” I asked.

“Amitie. I really don’t think we should…”

“I’ll talk to her.” Raffina interrupted Arle.

“Huh?!”

“R-Really, Raffina?! You’ll do that?!” I asked with glee.

“B-But Raffina!” Lidelle said. “Sh-She’s your clone! A-An evil clone! Created by Amitie’s evil clone!”

“Yeah, but…I kinda feel bad for what I said earlier. A-And besides, heard something that got me curious. A-And I want to know more.”

“Are you for real, Raffina?” Yu asked.

“Yes. I’m for real.”

“Thanks, Raffina. I knew I could count on you.” I said.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Y-Yeah. S-Sure.”

Raffina walked up to her clone and sat directly in her face to hopefully talk to her without making her feel worse than she already is.

_Good luck, Raffina._

 

**Chapter 33 Special – Elegant Chat**

 

**Raffina’s POV**

 

I sat down on the sand (something I would normally not do) and directly faced to face with my clone. Being this close-up, I gotta admit that she looks almost identical to me. Aside from the dark orange part of her hair and the orange markings all over her body.

Or is it my body?

“ ** _*whine*_** _What do you want?_ ” I asked myself.

“What do you mean “ _what do you want_ ”? I want to talk.”

“ _Talk? Does your meaning of “talk” include making me feel worse about myself? You’re a huge meanie. I don’t talk to meanies._ ” The clone then looked away from me with a pouty looking on her face and her folded her arm together.

**_*sigh*_ ** _This is going to be harder than I thought. There’s gotta be something I could do to get her to trust me. Oh. Maybe I could try that._

“Hey. I got a question.”

“ _I just said I don’t talk to meanies._ ”

“Just hear me out.” I took a deep breath before continuing on. “If you’re me, then does that mean you can speak French?”

The clone didn’t respond. I was about to just give up and let Yu kill her for her soul…

When suddenly…

“ _Ouais. Je peux parler français. Je suis toi, tu te souviens? Quel est votre point, de toute façon?_ ”

( _Yeah. I can speak French. I am you, remember? What’s you’re point, anyway?_ )

_Whoa. She can speak it. And it’s almost as perfect as mine. Then again, she is me. It’s to be expected._

“Mon point est ... si cela vous met plus à l'aise avec moi, parlons en français. Cela fonctionnera-t-il pour vous?”

(My point is…if it makes you more comfortable around me, let’s talk in French. Will that work for you?)

The clone went silent for a bit. Then she eventually turned to face me with her arms still crossed together.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Je suppose. Mais comment saurai-je que vous ne me direz plus rien de méchant?_ ”

( _I guess. But how will I know you won't say mean things to me again?_ )

“Regardez. Je vais admettre que je suis désolé d'avoir dit ces choses à votre sujet. J'étais juste ... euh. Comment devrais-je dire cela?”

(Look. I'll admit, I'm sorry for saying those things about you. I was just...uh. How should I say this?)

“ _Tu peux répéter s'il te plait? Une autre chose méchante? Aller de l'avant. Je m'en fiche. Ce n'est pas comme si je ne l'avais pas entendu auparavant._ ”

( _Say what? Another mean thing? Go ahead. I don't care. It's not like I haven't heard it before._ )

“Entendu avant?”

(Heard it before?)

I stopped to think to myself on what I meant by that. Then it came to me. How she was created. It gave me some idea on where to take this conversation.

“Tu veux dire avec Amitie? Je veux dire votre Amitie?”

(You mean with Amitie? I mean **_your_** Amitie?)

Once my clone nodded, she began to cry again. I didn’t want the others to think that I made her cry again. So I went over and hugged her. Letting her cry over my shoulder.

“ _C'est horrible! Complètement affreux! Depuis ma création, Amitie n'a été qu'une brute envers moi! Elle m'appelle idiot, lent, faible ... principalement parce que je n'ai aucun pouvoir! Elle me traite comme de la merde! Et même les autres à faire la même chose! Et finalement ... j'ai commencé à y croire._ ”

( _It's horrible! Completely awful! Ever since I was created, Amitie's been nothing but a bully towards me! She calls me idiot, slow, weak...mainly because I don't have any powers! She treats me like crap! And even got the others to do the same! And eventually...I started believing it all._ )

“Tu ne devrais pas.”

(You shouldn’t)

“ _Pourquoi? C'est vrai. En dépit de cette âme éternelle, je n'ai aucun pouvoir. Je suis le plus faible de ceux-ci, comment dites-vous ... des clones. Mais ensuite Amitie m'a parlé de vous et de vos amis. Et je me suis porté volontaire pour vous descendre les gars. Mais j'ai réalisé que je ne savais pas où vous trouver. Alors je suis rentré. C'est alors que j'ai entendu Amitie et les autres m'appeler par des noms tels que faible et attardé. Et comment leur plan pour détruire l'univers fonctionnera mieux avec moi mort que vivant._ ”

( _Why? It's true. Despite having this eternal soul, I don't have any powers. I'm the weakest of these, how you say...clones. But then Amitie told me about you and your friends. And I volunteered to take you guys down. But I realized that I didn't know where to find you. So I went back. That's when I heard Amitie and the others calling me names like weak and retarded. And how their plan to destroy the universe will work better with me dead than alive._ )

“ **Cette salope!** ”

( **That *****!** )

“ _Regardez, est-ce que nous avons fini, encore? Je suis presque sûr que tes amis veulent me tuer pour sauver l'univers et tout ça. De plus, une fille veut retrouver son âme éternelle. Personne ne va me manquer. Je suis un clone. Un faux vous. J'ai été créé pour te détruire. Mais je ne peux même pas le faire correctement. Je suis si pathétique._ ”

( _Look, are we done, yet? I'm pretty sure your friends want to kill me to save the universe and stuff. Plus that one girl wants her eternal soul back. No one's going to miss me. I'm a clone. A fake you. I was created to destroy you. But I can't even do that right. ***sniff*** I'm so pathetic._ )

“ **Arrête de dire cette merde!** ”

( **Stop saying that crap!** )

My clone looked at me again with more fear and sorrow in her eyes than before. She looked like she was going to cry again, but I stopped her just in time.

“Ecoute, je suis désolé d'avoir encore hurlé. Mais vous devez cesser d'écouter ce que cette abomination d'une fille vous dit. Elle est une entité maléfique au cœur froid.”

(Look, I'm sorry for yelling again. But you need to stop listening to what that abomination of a girl tells you. She's a cold-hearted evil entity.)

“ _Mais c'est elle qui m'a créé. Elle est mon maître. Elle est peut-être cruelle envers moi, mais c'est tout ce que j'ai. Je n'ai nulle part ailleurs où aller._ ”

( _B-But she's the one who created me. She's my master. She may be cruel towards me, but she's all I got. I-I don't have anywhere else to go._ )

_Her master?! Okay, that’s it! I can’t have her go back to that vixen! It’s like if the original Amitie started bullying me. There’s no way I would stand for that! And I won’t stand for my clone getting the same treatment!_

“Viens avec moi.”

(Come with me.)

“ _H-Huh?!_ ”

“I said come with me.”

“ **Wh-What?!** ” The others shouted.

_Honestly, I forgot they were there the whole time._

“ **R-Raffina! Wh-What are you saying?!** ” Amitie asked.

“What do you mean? I can’t let her go back to that damn Dark Soul. She’s miserable there! Constantly getting bullied. I can’t say that I understand what she’s been through since being created. But I do know one thing. Sending her back, or even killing her right here right now…will be the biggest mistake of my life. And I won’t let that happen.”

Everyone kept staring at me with looks ranging from “Are you crazy?!” to “Since when were you this caring?” I was prepared to stand here all night and wait for the answer I wanted to hear.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait that long.

“Poyo.”

“Huh? You’re serious, Kirby?” Amitie asked him.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

“Uh, Amitie. What did he say?” I asked.

"Oh, right. He said…your clone can come with us."

“ **R-Really?!** ” Both me and my clone yelled in shock.

“He made some pretty good points. We shouldn’t judge her based on where she came from. And if she’s willing to help us stop Amitwo’s plans, then she’s welcomed to join us.” Everyone else agreed to the idea. I almost cried when I heard that. But I held it in.

My clone, on the other hand…

“ ** _Waaaa! Thank you all very much for taking me in! I promise I’ll do everything I can to help! You don’t know how happy this makes me!_** ”

“O-Okay, we get it. Can let me go? You’re squishing me.”

“ _Oops. Sorry, uh…me. ***giggle***_ ”

_This girl’s the complete opposite of me. It’ll take a while to get used to her personality._

“ _By the way. Since we look exactly the same, can I call you “Sis”?_ ”

“ **S-Sis?!** ” I started to blush a little. Then looked away from myself so that I could avoid her puppy-dog eyes.

“O-Okay, fine. J-Just don’t overdo it, alright?”

“ _Yay!_ _Merci, Raffina!_ ” My clone cheered as she hugged me with a lighter grip this time.

( _Thank you, Raffina!_ )

“Oui peut importe. Sois prêt quand nous donnerons enfin cette Amitie pour quoi! Je l'ai?!”

(Yeah, whatever. Just be ready when we finally give that Amitie what for! Got it?!)

“ _Chose sûre! Nous ferons tous les deux payer Amitie!_ ”

( _Sure thing! We'll both make Amitie pay!_ )

“Wh-Why did it sound like she said my name in a threating way?” Amitie asked.

“She means your clone, Amitie. Nothing to worry about.” I said to her.

“O-Oh. Okay, then.”

“So we have two Raffinas on our side, huh? Wonder how this is going to play out?” Ringo asked.

“ _An endless nightmare, I can tell you that._ ” Marx grumbled to himself.

“What was that, Marx?”

“ _What was that, Marx?_ ”

“Nothing. Sheesh.”

My clone and I both looked at each other with a smile on our faces. Enjoying each other’s company already.

_Oh yeah. I think we’ll get along just fine._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soul Raffina joins the party! This was originally going to be a boss chapter. But then I wanted to make her the opposite of Raffina’s normal personality. And after asking kirbymanx for advice, I was able to make it work to at least how I like it.
> 
> Plus, the next chapter is DEFINITELY going to be a boss chapter. And I didn't want 2 bosses back-to-back.
> 
> And I’ll tell you guys a secret. Sky Sands from Kirby Air Ride was originally going to be the setting here. But after watching a video of it, I couldn’t make it work for the story (as in, I couldn’t get a solid background of it. It’s so plain.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Review, favorite, and/or follow it if you want. Next up is Radish Ruins from Amazing Mirror. Until then, later.


	34. Naming the Clone

_*Back to Amitie’s POV as normal*_

 

_Wow! We actually have a clone on our side! I can’t believe Raffina was able to pull it off. Then again, she was always convincing enough when it came to people doing what she says._

_Or is that controlling? I’m not sure._

_But one thing did come to mind after all that. something I never really knew about Raffina. Despite knowing her since we were younger (and back when she hated my guts)._

“Hey, Raffina. Since when were you able to speak French?” I asked.

“What are you talking about, Amitie? I…” Raffina stopped for a bit and took a quick glance at her clone. “I mean, **_we_** were always able to speak French. We are part French, after all.”

“Wait, really?! You’re part French?!”

“Oui oui. Tellement tellement.” Raffina responded in French. Leaving the rest of us confused on what she said.

“ _She basically said yes._ ” Her clone said.

“Oh. Thanks for that…Raffina?” I sounded unsure.

“Oh, right. We have two Raffinas now.” Lidelle said. “Telling them apart is going to be rather difficult.”

“Why not just name the other one?” Ribbon asked.

“Good idea, Ribbon.” Adeleine said. “But to what, though?”

“What did the other Amitie called you when you were created?” Raffina asked her clone. “You know, besides the insults.”

“ _Well…_ ” The clone thought about it. “ _…I remember at one point calling me Soul Raffina. Probably the only nice thing she called me._ ”

“Soul Raffina?” Raffina facepalmed. “Well, Amitie. If there’s one thing you and your clone have in common is that you’re both lazy thinkers.”

“Hey!” I got insulted.

“ _Well, what should my new name be?_ ” The clone asked.

“Hold on. Let me think about it.” Raffina really did think about it. For a good while, too. But in the end…

“Gah! I can’t think of one! Why is this so hard?!”

_Who’s the lazy thinker, now?_

“How about Raina?”

“ _Raina?_ ” We all asked as we turned to Rei, the person who suggested the name.

“It means “Strong, Peaceful Queen” in French.”

“Oh, yeah. It does.” Raffina said.

“You know French?” Yu asked her brother.

“Only a little.”

“Huh.” I guess Yu never knew that about Rei.

“So what do you think?” Raffina asked her clone.

“ _Raina…sounds like a nice name. And similar to yours, Sis. Alright! I’ll take it! Just call me Raina! Oh, Da-Ti-La!_ ”

“Well, that’s great.” Raffina said. “Only one more thing. That laugh…”

“ _What about it?_ ”

“It’s “La-Ti-Da”. Not “Da-Ti-La”.”

“ _Really? Cause I like “Da-Ti-La” better._ ”

“How is it better?”

“ _I dunno. It just does._ ”

Both Raffina and Raina looked at each other with mild looks of confusion on their faces.

“Well, whatever.” Raffina said.

“ _Yeah. Whatever._ ” Raina said.

“Oh, La-Ti-Da!”

“ _Oh, Da-Ti-La!_ ”

_These two really are similar. Almost like twins._

“Look, are we done with this?” Flamberge asked. “It’s getting cold out here and I’m not getting a thing that’s happening!”

“What a surprise…” Adeleine and Marx said.

“ **I heard that!** ”

“So this is the entrance to…what was this place called again?” I asked.

“ _Radish Ruins._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board. “ _It’s another area in the Mirror World. Mostly a temple of sorts._ ”

“The Mirror World, huh?”

_There might be a chance I might run into him again. But I’ll just have to deal with it when it happens._

“You okay, Amitie?” Arle asked me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get going. It really is starting to get cold.”

As some of us started going through the mirror, I felt Adeleine tap on my shoulder and I turned to face her.

“Hey, Amitie. What does “La-Ti-Da” mean?” She asked.

“I…don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“We’ve known Raffina since we were kids. And yet, we have no idea.” Lidelle added.

“And…she says that a lot?”

“Yep.” I said.

“Pretty much everyday.” Lidelle said.

“I see.” Adeleine eventually let the whole thing go and we joined the others in the Mirror World. Having no idea what to expect in our second visit to this other world.

_I can only hope it won’t be as bad as the first…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short and simple chapter this time. As the last few were quite long. Plus, I wanted to give Soul Raffina an actual name. Next chapter the true treck through Radish Ruins begins. Thanks for reading. Later.


	35. Revenge of the Enemy

**Mirrored Temple – Radish Ruins**

 

“Woah…this place is huge!” Arle said as Lidelle, Adeleine, and I joined the others inside of Radish Ruins. It was in fact huge. It honestly looked more like a ruined castle than a simple temple. There were the destroyed drapes, the medieval-styled windows, the pillars. It was all there.

But one thing that was different from a regular castle was the fact there were waterfalls forming from the crumbled rocks that were stuck on certain random spots. It made this place all the more mysterious.

“So this is the Mirror World, huh?” Adeleine asked. “I’ve heard so much about it, but I’ve never been here on my own.”

“And this is supposed to be like a maze?” Maguro asked.

“Something like that. There’s actually multiple pathways we can go. Each with a different endpoint.” Lidelle explained. “At least, that’s what Bandanna-Dee said.”

“ _Yeah. You got it right, Lidelle._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“ _Ugh._ A maze with multiple endpoints? I don’t have the time or patience for that. I’m warping to the true end.” Marx said.

“ **Wh-Wh-What?! And you’re just gonna leave us here?!** ” Raffina yelled.

“Hey, you managed to walk all across Dream Land, two other planets, **AND** a moon. I’m sure you can make your way through a maze. Plus, it’s good exercise. **_*giggle*_** ” Marx then teleported out of sight from us. Once again to who knows where.

“ **Gah! That little…** ”

“Unbelievable.” Adeleine said with a facepalm to her face.

“ _Uh…does he do that a lot?_ ” Raina asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Ringo said.

“Well, whatever!” Raffina shouted. “We can do this without him, right Amitie?!”

…

…

“Hello? Amitie?”

“H-Huh? O-Oh, yeah. We can totally do this. Hahahaha….” I tried laughing it off.

Everyone looked at me weirdly. But then let the whole thing slide over as we started exploring this place.

**_*sigh*_ ** _That was close._

To be honest, I wasn’t really okay at the moment. I’ve had this tense feeling in my nerves ever since we came into this world. I know I said (to myself) that I need to look out for _him_ , but he wouldn’t just show up out of nowhere and attack us, would he?

Then again, he already did it once before. I need to keep my guard up, just in case.

 

It’s been a couple minutes since entering Radish Ruins and my tensed-up nerves haven’t died down at all. Midway through, I switched to Mirror just in case something did happen.

“Right now, we were deeper inside the ruins. And there these creepy statues with even creepier faces on them were everywhere. It rose my nerves up a little more than before. And now I was really on edge.

“Poyo poyo?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m okay, Kirby. It’s just…something’s a bit off about this place.”

“Off? Off like how?” Misuki asked me.

“Not really sure. But it feels like…someone’s watching us.”

"Wh-What? H-How do you know that?" Ringo asked with a little nervousness inside her.

“I just have a feeling…!” And at that moment, I felt something approaching from behind us. I quickly turned around and placed my hand in front of me.

Seemingly, blocking an attack.

“I knew it. It is you.”

“ _Hmph…I’m impressed, Amitie. You noticed way sooner than I thought you would._ ”

“Aw, geez. It’s Dark Meta Knight.” Ribbon said with a little fear inside her.

Dark Meta Knight took his sword off my hand and landed right in front of us.

(Oh, and if you’re wondering about my hand…it’s fine. No cuts or anything. I think it’s because of the Mirror Ability.)

“What are you doing sneaking up on us?” I asked.

“ _What do you think, Amitie? Hearing that you had come back to the Mirror World, I had to see for myself if you’re really getting stronger. So far…it’s an improvement from last time. But you’re still rather we…_ ”

“ **D-Don’t say it! Don’t say that word!** ” Arle, Ringo, and Misuki shouted.

“ _Right. Of course._ ”

_Oh, yeah. **THAT** word. I **HATE** that word._

“So you follow us for who knows how long and almost insult me about my powers? Anything else?” I asked.

“ _Yes. I shall be accompanying you for the rest of the path here._ ”

“Huh?” I gotta admit, I was confused as hell at this point.

“ _Before you and your party showed up, an outsider snuck into this world and corrupted the warp mirrors. People here are unable to go to the other areas as they please. And it’s causing quite a problem._ ”

“The Mirror World…corrupted?” Francisca asked.

“ _And not only that, but that same person or people have left a_ _Demon Beast guarding the true exit to the ruins._ ”

“Can’t you beat it? I mean you’re basically a stronger version of the original Meta Knight, right?” I asked.

“ _I already made such an attempt. But lost not long after. And had to flee from the battle._ ”

“Huh. And you’re asking us to do it instead? How does this relate to us, anyway?”

Dark Meta Knight started to chuckle a bit before giving out his reason…

“ _Because, young Light Soul…said Demon Beast is guarding a Puyo Soul._ ”

“ **WHAT?!** ”

…And it was a really good reason, too.

“ **How did a Puyo Soul get into the Mirror World?!** ” Adeleine asked.

“ _That, Adeleine…I do not know. But it’s best if you go grab it as soon as possible. That is…if you accept my request, that is._ ”

“Well…what should we do, Ami?” Misuki asked me.

I gave this news some really good thought. I still have a few trust issues with Dark Meta Knight. But what he's saying makes a lot of sense. There's no doubt in my mind that Amitwo is the outsider that corrupted the Mirror World and left the Demon Beast here to try and stop us. As to what Demon Beast it is…that's where the doubts came in. If Dark Meta Knight wasn't able to beat this thing, how am I supposed to do it?

Then again…if I do, there’s a Puyo Soul waiting for me to claim it. So the risk has a very high reward.

“Alright. We’ll do it.” I said.

“ _Like you had a choice in the matter._ ”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“So, how far is this Demon Beast?” Ringo asked.

“ _Not far at all. It’s just a few meters up ahead._ ”

“Wait, hold on. I’m confused. What’s a Demon Beast?” Yu asked.

“ _And what’s a Puyo Soul?_ ” Raina asked.

“We’ll explain on the way there.” Raffina said. And Yu and Raina optimally agreed to it.

“Alright. Let’s go.” I said. We then continued our way through the ruins. Now having a goal waiting for us at the end.

 

As we got closer to the supposedly true end of the ruins, Raffina and Adeleine explained to Yu and Rania what Puyo Souls and Demon Beasts were. While Yu got excited about the Puyo Souls (mainly the “soul” part of the name. We had to further explain to her that they’re not a quick way to turn her back into a ghost.), Raina, on the other hand…looked really worried about the Demon Beasts. Especially the one that’s guarding the next Puyo Soul.

“ _U-Uh, guys. A-About this “Demon Beasts” thing. I…I-I think I know which one is guarding this “Puyo Soul” thing._ ”

“Really? Which one?” Adeleine asked.

“ _U-Uh…I-I think I remember it being a…snake(?)_ ”

“Huh? A snake?”

"There's no snake Demon Beast." Ribbon said.

“ _W-Well, it was a snake. It was big, kinda tall, somewhat of a metal body, and horns on its head._ ”

“Huh. That actually sounds…familiar.” Adeleine said.

“Do you remember anything else, Raina?” Arle asked.

“ _W-Well…I-I do remember it having an evil glare in its eyes. I saw them when it was strangling me because Amitie told it to._ ”

“Wait, what?! She told it to strangle you?!”

“ _Amitie really enjoyed torturing me. She would do it until I broke down crying, begged for my life, or just passed out as a whole._ ”

“Raina! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Raffina yelled.

“ _I-I’m sorry. I-It’s just that I was so scared and…I thought if I did tell, I’ll die and…and… **WAAAAAAAA!!!!!**_ ” Raina then broke down and cried hard tears of fear.

_Amitwo, you sadistic little…_

“ ** _*sigh*_** Come here.” Raffina said as she grabbed Rania and held her in a hug until she calmed down.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _I-I’m sorry, Sis._ ”

“It’s okay, Raina. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. As your, uh… _big sister_ , I promise that I’ll protect you.”

“ _R…Really?_ ”

“No matter what. I won’t let someone bully me down. Literally **AND** figuratively.”

“ _S-Sis… **I LOVE YOU!!!**_ ” Raina returned her original self’s hug as she cheered on and on about how Raffina was the best thing that happened to her.

“Okay, okay. I get it. just let go. You’re squishing me.”

“ _Oops. Sorry, Raffina._ ”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Geez, you really are my clone. Your strength is brutal."

“ _Hehhehhehheh…_ ” Raina giggled a little.

“But still…a snake-like Demon Beast? The heck can that be?” Adeleine asked. And as she continued to think about it, something started glowing in the distance. It was a really bright light that nearly blinded the way forward. But as we got closer to it, we got a good view of what it was.

“Guys, look!” Ribbon yelled.

“It’s a Puyo Soul!” Arle cheered. “And it’s yellow, too!”

“Poyo poyo!” Kirby then started running towards it. Offering to grab it himself.

“W-Wait, Kirby. That thing’s really heavy.” I said as I went after him. At first, I almost caught up to him.

Then…out of nowhere…

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

***swipe***

“Gah! Kirby!”

I don’t know where he went, but Kirby was snatched up by something and was no longer in front of me.

“Kirby! Where’d you go?!” Adeleine asked as she walked up next to me.

We then started hearing noises. Really loud ones. They sounded like…a rollercoaster going dangerously fast.

Then after the noises stopped, something dropped right in front of the two of us. And not long after looking at it, it was extremely familiar.

In a bad way.

“ ***terrified scream*** **It’s this thing again!** ” I shouted in fear.

“ **The** **Coily Rattler!** ” Adeleine added.

“ _Th-That’s it! Th-That’s the thing Amitie tortured me with!_ ” Raina stuttered in fear while hiding behind Raffina.

“Y-You mean **THIS** is the Demon Beast?!” Ribbon asked.

“ _And it’s the same one that I lost to before._ ” Dark Meta Knight added.

“ _Grr…This thing has a lot of nerve showing its face again._ ” Raffina said in a threating tone.

“Guy, look! In its mouth!” Ringo shouted as she pointed to the thing. And in its mouth…was Kirby’s unconscious body.

“Kirby!” We shouted.

The Coily Rattler then threw Kirby up in the air and caught it in its mouth. Eating him whole.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ ***terrified shriek* It ate Kirby!** ” Lidelle and Ribbon shouted in fear and total shock.

“You giant nuisance.” I started talking while slowly getting angry. “First, you nearly kill me. Then, you bring Amitwo into existence. And **NOW** , you eat my buddy. You’ve been a pain in my butt for the longest time! **And I’m going to make you pay!** ”

“A-Amitie…” Adeleine said.

“ **Same goes for me!** ” Raffina joined. “ **I’m going to make you suffer the same damn way you made Raina suffer!** ”

Adeleine looked at both of us with a worried look. But then the look turned into a grin as she stood next to us.

“ **Hold on, Kirby! We’ll get you out of there!** ” She shouted.

“ ** _*chuckle*_** _This outta be good._ ” Dark Meta Knight said as he took out his sword and stood next to us. From the looks of it, it was going to be us four against this nuisance of a snake.

_I won’t back down. I need to save Kirby!_

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ”

 

 **BOSS: Vs.** **Coily Rattler**

We didn’t waste any time stacking up puyos once they started falling through the ruin’s ceiling. We wanted to make each wall as big as possible. Because since it’s working for Amitwo, there was no doubt that the Coily Rattler was going to be a tough enemy to fight.

While we were stacking them up the normal way, the Coily Rattler was somehow using some kind of telekinesis to stack up a wall. It made kinda sense. Considering that it had no arms.

It was actually kinda neat-o, too.

“Alright, guys.” I said. “Let’s give it a shot. **Reflect Force!** ”

“ **Neige!** ”

“ **Brush Slash!** ”

“ ** _Triple Thrust!_** ”

We each fired our attacks at the Coily Rattler…only for it to block them all with a single swipe of its tail.

“What?!” Misuki shouted.

“That was like nothing to it!” Arle shouted.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

The Coily Rattler then started spitting out multiple rocks that were engulfed in flames. They were in rapid session, too. Dark Meta Knight and I blocked most of them, but some did land near us. Pushing us back a bit and leaving patches of fire on the ground. It then rocketed itself into the air. It went so high up that we couldn’t see it anymore. Which got us worried.

“Wh-Where’d it go?!” I shouted.

It didn’t take long for us to find out the answer. Because just seconds later, the Coily Rattler came back down and land right in front of me. It had its tail raised up and waved it around…

***POW***

***POW***

***POW* *POW* *POW* *POW* *POW* *POW***

…before hitting me multiple times with extreme power. The last one striking me so hard it flew me back to a nearby wall. Slamming up against it in sheer brutal force.

“ _Ouchie…_ ” I said as I winced in pain. Nearly shedding tears from my eyes.

“ **Amitie! Are you okay?!** ” Ringo shouted as she and Maguro ran up to check on me.

“ _I…I-I’m fine. I-I just…_ **GAAAAH!** ” As I tried to get up, I felt an excruciating pain in my left leg. Falling back down and releasing the tears I was holding in earlier.

“Looks like you hurt your leg. Stay down. You can’t make it worse than it already is.” Maguro said.

“ _B-B-But…B-But Kirby…_ ”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

That’s when we noticed the Coily Rattler was wrapped around one of the pillars in the far back. We didn’t even notice it going back there because of what it just did to me. This thing was really fast.

It then started shooting more flame-covered rocks ate us. Specifically, as us three. They were a lot faster than the first batch. And were somewhat bigger, too.

“ **Oh, no!** ” Ringo shouted in fear.

“ **Ringo! Help me out here!** ” Francisca shouted as stood next to Ringo. Bringing out a snowflaked-shaped battle axe in her right hand.

_Whoa! What is that thing?!_

“I-I’ll try! **Sine!** ”

“ **Cisca Slash!** ”

While Ringo used her magic book to cast her spell, Francisca swung her snowflake axe to send out a bunch of icy mist to put out the fire rocks. The two were able to destroy every one. And no fire patches were created, either.

“Ha-ha! Solved it!” Ringo gloated.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

The Coily Rattler was already doing its next attack. This time, spinning around the pillar at a really fast speed while it rose up the pillar. Then multiple parts of its body started raining down. Each part flowing on its own as it tried to hit us.

Luckily, they were all predictable to dodge. And the others were able to avoid them. But…one part was still missing.

It’s head.

We looked all around. Not seeing the head anywhere. And knowing how fast this thing was, we were quickly running out of time.

“W-Woah. I-I’m actually terrified right now.” Yu said as she shook in fear. “I-Is **this** a normal feeling when being alive? N-Now I hate being human even more!”

“ _Y-Yu. Y-You really need to stop…_ **GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!** ” I was trying to tell Yu to stop complaining about being alive…when I felt even more excruciating pain on my already hurting leg.

As it turns out, the Coily Rattler’s head had slammed onto my leg with brute force. Crushing it to the point where I felt my bones breaking. I was in serious pain. And I immediately started crying hard tears of pain once it got off my leg.

Not long after, it came back in front of us. Its body putting itself back together with electric sparks holding them in place.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“ **Amitie! Are you okay?!** ” Ribbon asked.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _I-I…can’t move! M-M-My leg…it hurts really bad! **WAAAAAAA!**_ ” I continued screaming in pain while lying on the floor completely defenseless.

We heard the Coily Rattler laugh in like a snake-y way (if snakes could laugh, I mean) as it watched me suffer from the injuries it gave me. Seemingly proud of it all.

“You **damn** snake… **I’ll make you pay for that!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ ** _Sis!_** ”

“ **Raina! Get back! It’s too dangerous!** ”

“ ** _No! I mean let me fight with you!_** ”

“Huh?!”

“ _This snake. My Amitie had powered it up to the point where it could kill someone eventually. And it looks like it’s main target is your Amitie._ ”

“Raina…why didn’t you say this before?!”

“ _I’m sorry, Sis. But I was just too scared. Seeing this thing just show up out of nowhere…it reminded me of the horrible things it did to me while I was still with Amitie and the others. Even though they hurt a lot, Amitie never ordered it to kill me._

 _At first, I thought it was a blessing in disguise. But now, after what I just witnessed…I knew that she was only training it. Using me as a practice dummy so that when the time came, she could get this thing to kill your Amitie._ ”

“Unbelievable…” Adeleine said.

“This clone is just pure evil…” Arle added.

“ _S-So now…i-if you don’t mind…I-I want revenge. I-I want to destroy this monster and eventually Amitie, too. And I want to do both with my true self by my side!_ ”

“R-Rania…” Raffina looked speechless. Hearing that from her clone, who even I have to admit wasn’t that bright in the head…was rather unexpected.

But then, she grew a smile on her face and grabbed Rania’s orange-marked hand with no regrets.

“Raina… **Laissez-nous botter des culs!** ”

( **Let us kick some ass!** )

“ ** _Très bien!_** ” Raina shouted with a nod. So I’m assuming that Raffina agreed to let her help.

They both turned to face the Coily Rattler. Both with a serious (and threatening) look on their faces.

“( **We’re going to end you!** )” They both shouted in French.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ” The Coily Rattler screeched as it prepared to do its tail again. It got closer to the Raffinas and was about to strike.

“ ** _G…Guys! L…L-Look out!_** ” I struggled to say because of the pain in my leg.

“Just follow my lead, Raina.”

“ _Alrighty, Sis._ ”

As the Coily Rattler begun swinging its tail…

“ **Tekken Sensai!** ”

“ ** _Cérémonie d'été!_** ”

…the two were blocking every single swipe! With their bare fists, even! And neither showed any sign of pain from it all!

_Wh-What the?!_

“Come on, Raina! This is what we trained for! No giving up!” Raffina yelled.

“ _Right, Sis!_ ” Raina shouted.

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

“Ready?! And…”

“ **Hougeki Renkyaku!** ”

“ ** _Félicitations!_** ”

Now the two were repeatedly kicking each and every part of the Coily Rattler’s body apart from each other. The electric sparks not phasing them at all. They did this until the head was the only thing left standing.

And as it fell forward towards them both…

“ **Joou Ranbu!** ”

“ ** _Arroser bouillir!_** ”

Both Raffinas kicked the Coily Rattler’s head with such extreme and brutal power. The strike sent it straight up in the air, where it started to glow.

And then…

“ ** _RAAAWWWGgghhh…_** ”

***BOOM***

…It exploded. Sprinkles of dust started falling from the sky. And along with it, came Kirby falling right down to us.

“Got ya!” Raffina said as she caught Kirby in her arms.

**_*sigh*_ ** _Thank goodness, it’s over._

 

“ _P…P-Poyo…_ ”

“Kirby! Are you okay?!” Adeleine asked as she walked up next to the two Raffinas.

“ _Poyo?_ Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“Oh, good. He says he’s okay.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Well, that’s a relief.” Raffina said. “Being eaten by a giant snake isn’t something people usually survive.”

"Well, that's one friend rescued. Now, what about the other?"

“Poyo?”

“ _Gah. I-I think I got it. I-I just need a little balance support._ ” I said as I was carried over to the group by Ringo and Maguro.

“Am, it really sounds like your leg is seriously broken.” Ringo said.

“Is there a doctor we can go to?” Maguro asked.

“Well…Magolor’s one. Technically.” Adeleine said.

“What does “technically” mean?” Misuki asked.

“In his case…I really can’t explain it.”

_Should I be worried?_

“W-Well…Lemres is there with him. Maybe he can fix your leg, Amitie.” Lidelle said.

“ ** _*sigh*_** I can only hope. But let’s get this Puyo Soul, first.”

“ _You all go on ahead._ ” Dark Meta Knight said. “ _I must now return all the warp mirrors to their original state now that the corruption is gone._ ”

“Fair enough. Thanks for the help.”

Dark Meta Knight didn’t respond and disappeared into the twisty thingy from the other two encounters. I was pretty ticked off that he didn’t even acknowledge the kind jester. But then…

“ _You really are getting stronger, Light Soul. I can’t wait for our final battle. ***chuckle***_ ”

Only I was able to hear that. But when I did, I grew a smile on my face and laughed a little to myself.

“Hey, Amitie. What’s so funny?” Arle asked.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s go get the Puyo Soul.”

“Alright. If you say so.”

We got to the next room and saw the Yellow Puyo Soul resting on a small pillar. Shinning as bright as it could. But we also saw Marx sleeping on top of it. Which got some of us angry.

And by “us”, I mean Raffina and Adeleine. The latter eventually picked up a rock and threw it at him. Hitting him in the head.

“ **Ow!** ”

“Wake up, you useless God!” Adeleine yelled.

“Oh. Hey, guys. About time you showed up. I found the Yellow Puyo Soul and was keeping guard of it until you got here. You sure took your time, though.”

“We took our time because we had to **fight a giant metal snake, you idiot!** ” Raffina yelled.

“Hey, hey, hey. No need for insults. You survived, didn’t ya?”

“ _Grr…_ ” Both girls were getting agitated.

“Kero?”

“Huh? Hey, what was that?” Adeleine asked.

Then the answer showed up (or…hopped up) from behind the pillar. Us who knew him didn’t really know what to say except…

“Huh? Dongurigaeru?”

“Kero! Kero kero!”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about him. I found him hiding behind the pillar. I couldn’t understand a word he said. So I gave up and went to sleep.” Marx said.

“Wow, you are **_SO_** helpful.” Raffina said sarcastically.

“Uh…Don-what?” Adeleine asked.

“Oh, right. It’s Dongurigaeru. He’s a frog from our world.”

“Wow. So you guys even have frogs that can play Puyo?” Ribbon asked.

“Pretty much.” Arle said. “If it lives, it can play Puyo.”

“ _We’ve sure seen that a bunch of times._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Hey, Lidelle.” I turned to her.

“I know, Amitie.” Lidelle said as she walked up to Dongurigaeru.

“Hey, Dongurigaeru. What are you doing here?”

“Kero.”

“No idea, huh? Well, do you know how you got here?”

“Kero kero. Kero. Kero kero kero kero kero. Kero. Kero kero kero. Kero.”

“Wow. That’s the same way I got here.”

“Well?” Raffina asked.

"He said he was just minding his own business at the pond when this strange yellow light blinded him. Next thing he knew, he was here."

“Kero kero kero. Kero. Kero kero. Kero.”

“And then, he was chased by a giant snake into this room. It couldn’t fit inside here. So he stayed in hiding since that day.”

“I see.” I said. “Well, we could explain everything while we take the Puyo Soul back.”

“Come on, Raina. You’re going to have to help me.” Raffina said.

“ _Sure thing, Sis._ ”

“K-Kero?”

“What did he say?”

“He’s asking why is there two of you, Raffina.” Lidelle translated.

“Oh, that. Like Amitie said, we’ll explain on the way back. It’s a long story.”

“K-Kero…” Dongurigaeru didn’t know what to think of that. But it sounded like he agreed to it.

Raffina and Raina grabbed the Puyo Soul and we started making our way out of this ruin-styled maze.

…

Hopefully, the same way we came here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Yellow Puyo Soul has finally been found! Our group of heroes are one step closer to saving Dream Land from a horrible demise. Can they stop Dark Red Amitie in time? Read on to find out.
> 
> So some minor changes have been made. First off, the number of Puyo Souls has decreased from 6 to 5. Thinking it over, 5 just made more sense to me. Specific chapters have already been changed to line up with this.
> 
> You know how some games have characters that don't affect the plot whatsoever and are just there? Well, I wanted to implement that. And since the Kirby universe has Chilly, I thought it would be fun to add Dongurigaeru from the Puyo Puyo universe for that exact reason. (By the way, “kero” means ribbit in Japanese. He just sounds better saying that over ribbit.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Next chapter coming soon. Later.


	36. Dark Red Illusions

**Starship of the Ancients – Lor Starcutter**

 

“We’re back.” Adeleine said as we entered the Lor Starcutter. When we got to the main area, the only person there was Gooey. Oddly, Magolor and Lemres were nowhere to be found.

“Hey, Gooey. Where did Magolor and Lemres go?” I asked him.

Gooey used his tongue to point to one of the rooms behind him. Signaling that they were back there somewhere.

“Thanks.” Adeleine and I (with her carrying me) went over to the specific room Gooey pointed to and opened it to see the duo doing…

“ _Aw, geez. Not again._ ” I said with a facepalm.

“So this is what you call…gelation?” Magolor asked Lemres.

“Yep. One of the sweetest desserts from our world. Super good, too.”

“Why is it…moving?”

“It does that because it’s so jiggly. Come on, try some.”

“Um…okay.” Magolor took a bite of the gelation and in just seconds, his eyes lit up with how sweet it is. I don’t blame him, though. The first time I tried gelation, I had the same reaction.

“W-Wow! It really is good!”

“ ** _*chuckle*_** See? I told you.” Lemres said with a smirk on his face.

“Uh…guys.” Adeleine said. Gaining the duo’s attention.

“Oh. You guys are back.” Magolor said.

“Oh dear, Amitie. What happened to your leg?” Lemres asked.

“We had to fight the Coily Rattler and it almost didn’t end well. But we brought back the 4th Puyo Soul with us. A-Along with…a few extras.”

“Extras?”

“Well, for starters…Dongurigaeru ended up here.”

“Dongurigaeru? Huh. That’s interesting. Anything else?”

“Well…”

“…I-It’s best if you come see for yourselves.” Adeleine said.

“Okay?” Both Magolor and Lemres were confused.

We brought them both to the main area where the others were waiting. Raffina and Raina were still putting up the Puyo Soul. But they soon met up with us.

And that’s when the two were able to understand…I think.

“W-Wow. T-Two Raffinas?” Lemres asked.

“ _Hiya. Name’s Raina. I’m a clone of Bis Sis Raffina. Nice to meet ya._ ” Raina said.

“She seems to be… ** _different_** from the normal one. **_A lot_** different, I must add.”

“Did you really had to though, Lemres?” Raffina asked. Sounding a bit insulted.

“Is she one of the clones that Dark Red Amitie created?” Magolor asked.

“Yeah, she is. We found her up in Sand Canyon and were about to fight her. But then things happened and now she’s one of us.”

“ _Yeah! And I’m going to give Amitie what she deserves!_ ” Raina cheered.

“ _Oh, really? Ha! I’d like to see you try!_ ”

“Gah! Wh-What was that?!” Lidelle asked.

Soon a red shadow started forming in front of us. And appearing from it came Amitwo. With a dark red aura around her smug look on her face. Her outfit had changed a little. Now wearing a red t-shirt with a soul symbol on the left side of it and a pair of black jean shorts with a lot of pockets. And now, she had red markings all over her body. Much like Ringo’s clone, but somehow…they look more sinister.

“ ** _*terrified scream*_** _I-It’s Amitie!_ ” Raina shouted as she hid behind Raffina.

“ **The hell are you doing here?!** ” Raffina yelled.

“ _What else? I’m here to claim my minion back. Her slow self’s been talking too damn long and I’m getting impatient._ ”

“ _N-No! I-I’m not going with you!_ ” Raina yelled. Still hiding behind her original self.

“ _Raffina! Get your worthless self over here NOW!_ ”

“ _My name is Raina! And I’m saying here with Sis and her friends! I’m not going with you, you bully!_ ”

“Yeah!” Ringo yelled.

“You tell her, Raina!” Arle yelled.

“ _You damn little…I’ve should’ve killed you the moment you were proven defective! You retarded little baby!_ ”

“ **That’s enough!** ” I shouted. “ **You need to shut up!** ”

“ _Oh. Look who’s playing hero again. Well, I’ve got beef with you, Blondie! You have some nerve defeating my top minion like it was nothing!_ ”

“Hmph! Call it revenge for it nearly killing me before. And I’m really ticked off that it broke my leg.”

“ _Ticked off?! **Ticked off?! The only person that should be ticked off is me, you damn thief!**_ ”

“Thief?”

“ _Tch! Forget that last part! Just know this, Amitie! Keep interfering with my plans, and I’ll make you pay! With your life **AND** soul!_ ” Amitwo then disappeared once again. Leaving most of us rather angry. And me…somewhat confused.

_Thief? What did she mean by that?_

“Gah! That girl! She aggravates me to no end!” Raffina said.

“ _R-Raffina…thanks for sticking up for me._ ” Raina said.

“Come on. It wasn’t just me. You did it yourself, too.”

“ _R-Really?_ ”

“Yep.” Raffina said with a smile. “You really are brave, Raina.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Thanks, Sis._ ”

 

“ _Ow…ow… **OW!**_ ”

“Amitie! Keep still!”

“Well sorry, Arle! It’s not easy keeping still when you have a broken leg!”

“Well, way to be snarky.”

“S-Sorry. I’m just tired. How’s it going, Kirby?”

“Poyo…poyo…”

“ ** _*whine*_** _It’s been “almost” for 15 minutes now. How long does it take to fix a broken leg?_ ”

“Well, normally it would take a lot longer than this. With a couple hours of surgery and a few days of walking on crutches to let it heal and…”

“Ringo. Please. Just stop.” I said with a facepalm.

With what we went through in Radish Ruins, we've decided to rest up for the day. Arle and Ringo were holding me in place while Kirby was using the Love-Love Stick on my broken leg. It's really hard to wait for it to be fixed. It hurts a lot and I **_really_** have to use the bathroom.

“H-Hey, Kirby. A-Are you done yet?” I asked.

“ _Poyo_ … _poyo_ …poyo!" A light flashed around my leg as I felt the pain from it ease up a little. I was able to wiggle my toes, but that's about it. I can't move around much or else it would start hurting again.

“ ** _*whine*_** _It’s so stiff._ ” I whined.

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“Just the bone was fixed? So I still can’t walk until it heals on its own?”

“Poyo.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Now what am I going to do?_ ”

“Kero kero.” Dongurigaeru said as he hopped into the room the four of us were in.

“Oh hey, Dongurigaeru. What’s up?” Ringo asked.

“Kero. Kero Kero?”

“Her leg’s doing fine. The bone’s fixed, but she still can’t walk on it.”

“Kero.”

…

…

“Uh…hey, Ringo. How are you able to understand what Dongurigaeru says?” Arle asked.

"Oh, that? Well, I've been taking lessons from Lidelle on understanding these "one word means everything" languages. I'm already down with Chilly. And now I'm working on Dongurigaeru."

“Wow. I see. Do you think you could learn Carby’s soon?”

"Hmm…possibly. Though I do want to understand Kirby before we end up going back home. You don't mind do you, Kirby?"

“Poyo!”

“He said he’s okay with it.” I said.

“Great! I can’t wait!”

“So what does Dongurigaeru want?” I asked.

“Well, let’s see…”

“Kero. Kero kero kero. Keroin.”

“He said that this seems like a real crazy mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Amitie.”

“Hehheh. Yeah, it kinda is. But I don’t regret it in any way. I’m really enjoying my time in Dream Land. Despite the madness that’s happening right now.”

“Kero…”

“He said that sounds a lot like you.”

I wasn't if I should feel happy or offended by that statement. So I just left it alone.

“Kero! Kero kero kero kero. Kero kero.”

“Oh? He said that he found some weird thing when he was hiding from the Coily Rattler.”

“Really?” Arle asked.

“Kero.”

Dongurigaeru took out one of his acorns and cracked it to reveal a weird purple-ish star with an even weirder eye on it. None of us had any idea what it was…

“Poyo…poyo poyo!”

…but it looked like Kirby did.

“Kirby, do you know what this is?” I asked him.

“Poyo. Poyo po po po poyo.”

“The ESP Ability? What’s ESP?”

“ESP is short for extrasensory perception.” Ringo explained. “It’s much like a sixth sense. Letting you use psychic abilities.”

“Woah. Psychic abilities? That sounds really cool.” Arle said.

“And there’s a Copy Ability for that?” I asked.

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“Just as new as Poison, huh? Hey, Kirby. Just how many Copy Abilities are there?”

“Poyo.”

“Too many to count. Great.” I went and took a look at the ESP Ability. Then, like the others, I touched it with my left hand and absorbed the power into my wristband. It soon turned into a ring of light blue energy and the same part of my hair had turned purple this time. But what was different this time was…

…that I started to float.

“ **W-Woah! A-Amitie! Y-You’re floating!** ” Ringo shouted.

“Woah! I really am floating! This is super duper neat-o!” I cheered as I moved around a little in the air. This must what it feels like to be free restraints, right Arle?”

“Why would I know about that?” Arle asked.

“Well, Harpy said you did.”

“And you believed her?”

“Well, she can fly.”

…

“Yeah, I guess.” Arle said after thinking about it.

“Hey, guys. Is everything okay in here… **woah! Amitie! Y-You’re floating!** ” Adeleine yelled as she walked into the room and saw me floating.

“Hey, Adeleine! Check it out! I got a new Ability!” I cheered with glee.

“An Ability?! What Ability does that?!”

“Poyo poyo.”

“ESP? I don’t remember seeing you float with it.”

“It’s probably special for Amitie.” Ringo said.

“Huh. I guess it’s possible. They seem to work differently with Amitie than with Kirby.”

“Hey, Ringo. You said that I have psychic abilities now, right? What are they like?” I asked.

“Well…there are a lot of them. But the basic one is Telekinesis. AKA, moving stuff with your mind.”

“Really? Let me try.” I started focusing on a nearby planet in the room while trying to move it with my mind. After a while of squinting, though, my head started to hurt. So I knew that I wasn’t working.

“Well, your wristband’s glowing. Try using your arm.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” I faced my left arm at the plant and…

“ **PK Shift!** ”

…a bubble of psychic energy came from my hand and moved towards the plant. The bubble absorbed the plant and it came back to me with the plant inside of it.

“Woah…” Was all we could say after that.

“Amitie…this is such a cool Ability.” Arle said.

“I know, right? And now it’s a part of me just like the others. They’re **WAY** better than my old spells.”

“Guess you can give up that weird dream on being a wonderful magician now huh, Amitie?” Ringo asked.

…

“Amitie?”

I stared at Ringo for a bit. Then, without any hesitation, sent a bubble of psychic energy at her and started carrying her with it.

“Gah! O-Okay, okay! I get it! That wasn’t cool! J-Just put me down already! P-People are going to see!”

“Alright, fine.” I said as a placed Ringo down on the floor. “I’m gonna go show this off to the others. They have to see this!” I started floating towards the door in excitement. Leaving the others behind.

“H-Hey! A-Amitie! W-Wait up!” I heard Arle yell out as they went to catch up to me.

Well…tried to, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Dongurigaeru, Amitie now has the ESP Ability! A quick refresher, the Abilities that she has are:
> 
> Mirror  
> Water  
> Plasma  
> Ice  
> Fire  
> Poison  
> ESP
> 
> For a total of 7 Copy Abilities. There will be one more Ability for her to get. What that one is, I have no idea yet. Also, there’s only one character left from each series to appear in this story. I do know who they are but not telling yet.
> 
> We’re coming close to the end, everyone. One more Puyo Soul and then it’s the final stretch. Keep on reading to see how this all folds up. 
> 
> Thank you, and later.


	37. Advice From Onee-sama

The next day, we all decided that it was time to start searching for the final Puyo Soul. We had the red one, the blue one, the green one, and the yellow one. And all we need now is the Purple Puyo Soul. We were so ready for this!

“But…there is the fact that Amitwo and the other clones will try and stop us now that we have four of them.” Maguro brought up a really important point.

“Oh, yeah. That is a problem.” Lemres said.

“Clones? What clones?” Schezo asked.

By the way, the reason why he’s here is that he eventually found his way out of the desert and found this ship. We eventually let him in, but after Arle forced an apology out of him. Not sure why, but it’s really hard for him to say the words “I’m sorry”.

“Dark Red Amitie made clones of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and Lidelle using Yu’s eternal soul. They were made to be her servants and destroy us. But luckily, we have one of them on our side.” Lemres explained.

“I see. Now I understand why are there two Raffinas.”

“Hey, guys. I’ve been thinking.” Yu said. She still had the outfit on from when we fought her. But now she’s wearing a white jacket and using the hood like her old ghost sheet. “Just how are we going to get my eternal soul back?”

 The rest of us went silent for a bit.

“H-Honestly, Yu…I-I have no idea.” I said.

“ **What?!** ”

“Sorry, Yu. We’re just not experienced with souls and stuff.” Arle said.

“ **So you were going to just mosey around the rest of this place without a plan to turn me back to normal?!** ”

“Yu, calm down. We’ll think of something, okay?” Raffina said.

“Easy for you to say, Raffina. You have part of me standing right next to you.”

“O-Oh yeah. R-Right.” Raffina said as she looked straight at Raina, who looked really confused.

“ _What?_ ” Raina asked.

“Raina. You do know that you’re a soul, right?”

“ _Yeah, I know. Is that bad, Sis?_ ”

“Well…”

"L-Listen, Raina." Ringo joined the conversation. "Wh-When we defeat the other three clones and soon Amitwo...when the time comes to turn Yu back to normal…"

“ _W-Wait. A-Are you saying…that I’m gonna have to die?!_ ”

“W-Well…p-possibly.”

“ _B-B-B-B-B-But…I… **WAAAAAAA! I DON’T WANNA DIE! I WANNA STAY WITH SIS FOREVER! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!**_ ”

It was really hard for us to stand there and watch Raina cry. Basically begging for her life, which is technically Yu’s. We’ve come to like her a lot. She’s like if Raffina was a bit sensitive and less smart. But still had her fighting skills.

“Guys, isn’t there something we can do?” Ribbon asked. “I don’t want to see our friends die.”

“Can’t you do something?” Adeleine asked Marx.

“D-Don’t look at me. I’m serious when I say that I have absolutely no experience with souls. Even though I was one at one point.”

“You were a soul?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, kinda. Though I don’t remember much of it. Magolor was one too, you know?”

“Wait, really?” Misuki asked Magolor.

“Yeah, I was. Though like Marx, I don’t remember much of it.”

“I see…” Misuki went silent for a bit. “Hey, maybe I can…”

***POW***

“Ow!”

“Witch, there is no way you are becoming a soul!” Arle yelled after hitting her in the head.

“ ** _*whine*_** _How’d you know that?!_ ”

“Why would you want to be a soul, anyway?” Schezo asked.

“ _I have my reasons._ ”

Arle and Schezo didn’t bother to push the topic any further.

“Hey, isn’t there someone in your world that knows about souls and stuff?” Flamberge asked.

“No.” Arle, Misuki and I said.

“I don’t.” Raffina, Maguro, and Schezo said.

“Not that I know of.” Ringo, Lemres, Yu, and Rei said.

“Kero…” Dongurigaeru said. Which probably meant no.

“I do.”

“ **Huh?!** ” We all shouted as we looked at Lidelle, the one who said that.

"I know someone who's an expert one souls. In fact, he deals with them every day."

“ ** _*gulp*_** _H-He deals with them?_ ” Adeleine asked in a nervous tone.

“ _E-Everyday?_ ” Ribbon asked in the same way.

“Lidelle. Who is this person?” I asked.

“Well…I’ll probably need to ask him directly. Is there a way to video chat here?”

“Sure. I’ll set up right now.” Magolor said. “Who are you trying to call?”

Lidelle took out her phone and went through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. Then showed it to Magolor.

“This one.” She said.

“I see. Okay, I think I got it.”

Magolor did a few more typing before the big screen in the middle showed a bunch of static before showing the face of a person us other-worlders knew really well.

Especially Arle, Misuki, and Schezo.

“Hey! Can you see me?!”

“Lidelle?”

“Hey, Satan.”

“Lidelle! Where are you?! Mother and I have been looking for you for days!”

_Oh, yeah. I forgot that Lidelle and Satan are siblings._

“Y-Yeah. S-Sorry. I-It’s just that really insane things happened. Don’t ask what. It’s a really long story.”

“Okay?” Satan looked rather confused. But then he decided to let it go for now.

“Anyway, we need your help with something.”

“Wait, hold on, Lidelle.” Arle said. “Y-You’re going to ask Satan?”

“Ha-ha! So this is where you disappeared to, my precious little Arly! I’ve been looking all over for my sweet fi…”

“Satan! Don’t even say it! Not now!”

“Oh? Is this perhaps another way of you denying the truth?”

“I’m not denying the truth! I’m saying the truth! You just don’t want to listen!”

“Hey! Satan! Can you focus on your little sister, please?!” Lidelle yelled.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Fine. Ask away.”

“Thank you. Now if we were in a situation where a ghost lost their eternal soul and it was split into four clones of other people, but then one of the clones became our friend. But then also for the ghost to return to normal, the four clones would have to die. Including the one that became our friend. What would be another option?”

…

…

“What?” Satan asked after a brief silence.

“And of course, he doesn’t get it. Some ruler of Hell you are.” Schezo said.

“ **R-Ruler of Hell?!** ” The residents of Dream Land yelled in shock.

“Hmph. So you’re there too, huh Schezo? That explains why I haven’t heard any perverted sayings this whole time.”

“ **You’re the pervert, you old man!** ”

“ ** _Grr…you better be lucky I’m not there to put you in your place, Dark Wizard!_** ”

“ **Guys! Knock it off!** ” Arle yelled at the two.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Whatever." Satan said. "Now about your question, Lidelle. Where did you even come up with such a thing?"

“Well…it kinda actually happened.” Lidelle said.

“Huh?”

***ONE EXPLANATION LATER…***

“I see. So a clone of Amitie stole Yu’s eternal soul and made clones of Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and yourself. But then Raffina’s clone became good and now she doesn’t want to die. Is that it?”

“Yep. Pretty much sums it up.”

“And now we’re hoping if you know a way Yu can have her eternal soul back and keep Rania alive.” I added.

“Hmm…” Satan thought about this for a bit. “Well, if you really want to have both, then you’ll need a second eternal soul.”

“A second eternal soul?” We asked.

“If you have a second one, then you can give Yu the rest of hers and then give the extra one to…what’s her name again?”

“Raina.” Raffina said.

“Right. Then the second one can go to Raina. Although, the process can be a bit difficult.”

“Don’t worry, Satan.” Lidelle said. “I’ve been training to use souls for reasons such as this. I can do this myself.”

“Wait, what?” The rest of us asked.

“Really, Lidelle? You’re still a novice in all this.”

“Come on! I can do it! how else am I supposed to as powerful as Dad was?!”

“Gah…” Satan pinched his nose in a frustrated “I give up” kind of way. “Fine. I’ll leave the soul switching to you, Lidelle.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Thank you, Onee-sama.”

“ **Tch!** Y-Yeah, whatever." Satan started to blush a little from what his little sister called him.

“Oh. And tell Mother I’m fine. And I should be back soon.”

“Fine. Just get back here safe.”

“I will, I will.”

The screen then turned off and Lidelle faced the rest of us with a confident smile on her face.

“Well, there you have it. We just need to find a second eternal soul and give that to Raina. That way, she won’t have to die.”

“ _Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, **THANK YOU, LIDELLE! YOU SAVED MY LIFE!**_ ” Raina cheered as she hugged Lidelle as tightly as she could.

“Aw. You’re welcome, Raina. Anything for a friend.”

“Uh…Lidelle.” Adeleine said. “I-Is your brother really…th-the ruler of Hell?”

“Yeah. I’m essentially half human, half hellspawn."

“H-Half hell spawn?!” Ribbon asked in fear.

“My dad being the former ruler of Hell before he died. And my mom being human.”

“Woah.” Marx said. “Who would’ve thought that Lidelle would have that much power?”

“It was a shock when she told us one day.” Misuki said.

“ _That’s…crazy._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Poyo poyo…” Kirby added.

“Well…now that we know what to do, where do we get a second eternal soul?” Ringo asked.

And after thinking about it, we turned to face Rei and stared at him for a while. While Rei didn’t understand what was happening, Yu did.

“ **NO WAY!!!** ”

And she wasn’t happy.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Alright, fine. Guess we’ll have to go look for one.” Raffina said.

“No problem.” I said. “We can look for it and the Purple Puyo Soul at the same time.”

“But…where would we start?” Lidelle asked.

“Well, I’m picking up some strong signals coming from Butter Building. You can try there.” Magolor said.

“Butter Building, huh? The altitude gets really high there. You guys think you can handle it?” Adeleine asked us visitors.

“Please. We’ve come this far. A little high altitude won’t stop us now.” I said.

“Alright, then I’ll give you all a lift there.” Magolor said before he started up the Lor Starcutter and it lifted us to the start of our search for the final Puyo Soul.

_At this point, I’m ready for anything!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a chapter about a topic I never gave much thought about until earlier today. I couldn’t get it out of my head since. So I decided to write it. Next chapter, though, is the true beginning of the final Puyo Soul search. And at Butter Building, no less.
> 
> Also. For those not familiar with Puyo Puyo, Lidelle and Satan are not actually siblings. It's a running gag in the series to where Lidelle looks up to Satan as a brother because they both have horns. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Later.


	38. The 2D Cat is a Soul Expert

**Superstructure to the Skies – Butter Building**

 

As the ship landed in front of a really old red-ish building, we could already feel the high altitude getting to us. I was already feeling super dizzy. And with me having this broken leg, I was easily losing my balance. And had to use Misuki as a way to keep it.

“You sure you’re okay, Ammy?”

“I’m fine, Misuki. Really. I am.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

“Welp. This is Butter Building. One of the highest points in Dream Land.” Adeleine said.

“Woah. One of the highest points?” Arle asked.

“Are you going to be okay, Ringo?” Maguro asked her.

“ _Y-Y-Yeah. I-I-I’ll be fine. I-I-I can totally do this._ ”

“Ringo…you’re shaking.”

“ _Wh-Wh-What? M-M-Me? I-I’m not shaking. I-I’m fine._ ”

“She’s definitely afraid.” Yu said.

“Big time.” Rei added.

“ _Wh-Wh-What do you two know?!_ ”

“We’re ghosts. We know everything about being afraid.” Yu said.

“ _B-B-But…_ ” Ringo then went silent for a bit. “ ** _*sigh*_** Fine. I’ll prove to you guys that I’m not afraid. And I’ll do it by going inside this building. Watch me now!”

“ _So now she’s mocking me?_ ” I whispered to Misuki.”

“Oh come on, Ammy. It was kinda funny.” Misuki whispered back with a few added giggles.

***RUMBLE***

“ **Gah!** ” Ringo screamed a little as she hid behind Maguro.

“Oh, yeah. You’re doing a **_really_** good job of proving your bravery." Yu said.

“ **Shut up, Yu!** ”

“What was that?” Adeleine asked.

“Another Demon Beast, perhaps?” Francisca suggested.

“It better not! I’ve had enough of them!” Ribbon yelled in fear.

_You and me both, Ribbon._

***RUMBLE***

“Well whatever it is, it seems to be behind this locked door.” Maguro said.

“Door’s locked, huh?” Flamberge asked. “Welp. Game over. Nothing we can do. I’m going home.”

“ **H-Hey!** ” Adeleine yelled.

“Flamberge. Please don’t give up so easily.” Francisca said to her.

***RUMBLE***

“I guess we’ll just have to find a key.” Lidelle said.

“Oh, great. More searching.” Schezo complained.

“And I supposed you have another idea?” Arle asked him.

“W-Well…no.”

“Then quit complaining and start looking.”

“You can’t be serious!”

***RUMBLE***

“For once, Schezo’s right.” Misuki said. “Looking for a key right now would be a waste of time.”

“But it’s the only thing we can do.” Raffina said.

Then suddenly, we all watched as Gooey made his way up to the locked doors. After staring at it for a short while, he stuck out his tongue, formed it into a giant fist, and them punched the doors down. Knocking them both as dust flew out into the skies.

…

…

…

“Or…there’s that.” Raffina said after the rest of us were speechless for a very good while.

“Gooey…how did you do such a thing?” Adeleine asked.

Gooey’s response was him simply forming muscles on his tongue.

“He said that he has a really strong tongue.” I translated.

“Okay then…” Was all the others said.

 

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

As we entered Butter Building, the weird noise has only gotten louder. We had no idea what it was. So a few of us were getting scared.

And by “few”, I mean the usual three people. Being Ringo, Lidelle, and Ribbon.

“Okay! I seriously want to turn back now!” Ringo yelled.

“ _I really don’t want to know what’s making that sound._ ” Ribbon whined.

“Can’t we wait on the ship?” Lidelle asked.

“No.” Arle, Adeleine, and Raffina all said together.

“ ** _*whine*_** ”

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

“This thing. It’s coming.” Schezo said as he took out his sword.

“Looks like we may have to fight it.” Francisca added as she brought out her battle axe.

“ _I knew it! It is a Demon Beast!_ ” Ribbon whined in fear.

“Finally! I get to tear something to shreds!” Marx yelled with glee.

“You ready for this, Raina?” Raffina asked her.

“ _I’m super ready, Sis._ ”

“Alright, guys. Be ready.” Adeleine said.

The noise became louder and louder as whatever this thing is kept getting closer. We were all prepared for whatever fight was coming over way…

…but we weren’t prepared to see **who** it was that we would be fighting.

I say that because…

“Meow.”

…

…

“H-Hey, guys.” Arle said after another bit of silence. “I-Isn’t that…Akaineko?”

We all kept staring at the 2-dimensional red painted cat. Wanting to believe that we were seeing things. But we weren't. Akaineko was standing right in front of us without a care in the world.

“Y-Yeah. I-It is him. It’s…Akaineko.” Lidelle said.

“Wait…who, or what, is Akaineko?” Adeleine asked.

“He’s a 2D cat made out of red paint.” Ringo answered.

“What?”

“Meow.” Akaineko started walking up to us. Then climbed up and rested on top of Kirby.

“Poyo…” And Kirby was extremely confused.

“Hey, Amitie.” Raffina said to me. “If Akaineko is here, do you think…”

“Yeah. It sounds possible. But I don’t think…”

“ **Akaineko! Where did you go?!** ”

“Never mind.”

We soon heard footsteps heading our way. And then saw the owner of the 2D cat reveal herself from the shadows. Wearing her cat-inspired outfit and all.

“Chetta!” Those of us who knew her shouted her name.

“Huh?! Guys?! You’re in this weird world, too?!”

“Yeah. We’ve been here a while. How long have you been here?” Arle asked.

“Uh…a couple days. Maybe even a week or two. I don’t even know how I got here. I was just playing with Chu and then this bright purple light came out of nowhere and blinded me. Next thing I knew, I was stuck inside this old building in the sky and Akaineko was nowhere to be found. So I’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“I see. Well, he’s right here.”

“ **Akaineko!** ”

“Meow.” Akaineko jumped off of Kirby and walked over to his owner, who picked him up and cuddled him with so much affection.

“Geez! Why do you keep running away from me?! You sneaky cat!”

“Meow.”

“Uh…so, guys. Who is this?” Adeleine asked.

“Oh, right.” I said. “This is Chetta. She’s another person from our world and is a really good painter. In fact, she painted Akaineko.”

“She painted her cat? And it’s alive?”

“She’s a lot like you. Adeleine.” Ribbon said.

“Yeah, I guess.” Schezo added. “But I still find it hard to believe that an 11-year-old has so much power over paint.”

“ **W-Wait, she’s 11?!** ”

“Well, she does look like it.”

“Why are you so upset, Adeleine? How old are you?” Raffina asked.

“I’m 16.”

…

…

“Really?” We all asked after yet another brief moment of silence.

“Yes, really! Were you guys not able to tell?!”

“Of course not! You don’t look 16 at all!” I yelled.

“Huh?! How?!”

“Well, where to start…” Marx said.

“You know what, I rather not know.” Adeleine said while sounding insulted.

“A-Anyway, Chetta.” Lidelle said. “You said that you were here for about a week or two?”

“Yeah, kinda. I tried finding a way out, but the front door was locked and I kept getting lost. I’m just glad I’m not the only one here anymore.”

“Yeah. I can agree with you on that.”

Chetta then went silent for a second.

“Uh, by the way…what happened to Amitie? A-And why is there two Raffinas? A-And why is Yu…human?”

“Well…” I said. “I-It’s kinda complicated, Chetta. Let’s just say that it’s a legend of sorts.”

“A legend?”

“Meow. Meow.”

“The Legend of the Red Puyo Hat? So you’re saying it’s active, Akaineko?”

“Meow.”

_And of course, they know about it. I wouldn't pass anything with this girl-cat duo._

“Chetta. How do you know such a thing?” Ringo asked.

“Well…Akaineko told me one day…”

“Of course he did.”

“Hold on. There’s more. Since then, I’ve been researching it during my free time from school and art shows. I remember reading about how the Light Soul must defeat the Dark Soul in order to save the universe.”

“Yeah. That’s about it.” I said. “And I just happen to be the Light Soul.”

“Wait, really? You’re the Light Soul, Amitie?”

“Yep! _Pretty cool, right?_ ”

“Amitie. Quit bragging.” Raffina said to me.

“So that means you have all 8 Copy Abilities?”

…

…

“U-Uh…eight?” I asked nervously.

“Yeah. There are 8 Copy Abilities the Light Soul needs in order to take on the Dark Soul. One main weapon, and seven elementals to make the main weapon stronger. You do have them, right?”

“Uh…”

Chetta looked confused as I tried to think of an excuse for how I’m one short right now. But eventually, I couldn’t think of any. And decided to tell her the truth.

“A-Actually, Chetta…I-I only have seven.”

“Seven?”

“A-And there all the elementals.”

“What?! You mean you don’t have the main weapon?!”

“I’m sorry, okay?! I didn’t even know there was a main weapon!”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Kore wa ima hontōni okotte iru no ka?_ ”

“What?” Flamberge asked.

“Right. Chetta can speak Japanese. She basically said “Is this really happening right now?”.” Lidelle explained.

“ _And she speaks Japanese, too._ ” Adeleine whined under her breath.

_I-Is she jealous of Chetta?_

“We’re really sorry, Chetta. We really didn’t know.” Raffina said.

“ _Yeah. We really didn’t know. I only heard of this legend from Sis earlier._ ” Raina added.

“Sis?”

“Long story.”

“ _Meow…meow._ ”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Akaineko?”

“ _Meow. **MEOW!**_ ”

Akaineko then jumped out of Chetta’s hands and started heading in the direction both of them came from earlier.

“Meow.”

“Huh? You sense something?”

“Meow. Meow.”

“A powerful soul is nearby?”

“Meow.”

“An entity with extreme power?”

“ _Meow._ ”

“And it…reminds you of Lidelle?”

“Meow meow.”

“Wait. A soul-like entity with an extreme power similar to Lidelle?” I repeated all the stuff Akaineko said. Then it hit me. “G-Guys…”

“We know, Amitie.” Arle said. “It sounds like Lidelle’s clone is nearby.”

“Oh no…” Ribbon said.

“Wait, what? Lidelle’s clone? Why does Lidelle have a clone?” Chetta asked.

“We’ll tell you along the way, Chetta.” Raffina said. Then looked over to Lidelle, who hasn’t said anything about it.

“Hey. Lidelle.”

“…I’m ready.”

“What?”

“I’m ready. I want to face my clone. And defeat her before she comes after me.”

“Well, this is a new side of you.” Schezo said.

“I promised my family that I’ll come back to them safe. And I’m not going to let an evil me ruin that for myself. I’ll defeat her. I know I will. And I won’t run away this time.”

_Wow. Lidelle really sounds serious. I’ve never seen this side of her before._

_And I think I kinda like it._

“Lidelle.” I said to her. “Trust me. We’ll beat her.”

“Beat her to the damn ground!” Raffina added.

“Thank you, girls. That really means a lot.” Lidelle said while almost shedding tears.

“Hey, Chetta. Can Akaineko lead us to her?” I asked.

“Sure. He can sniff out souls for days.”

“Okay, seriously. Just how powerful is this cat?” Marx asked.

“Really powerful.” Maguro said.

“Maybe even more powerful than you, Marx. _Oh, La-Ti-Da!_ ” Raffina added.

“Tch! We’ll see about that!” Marx got insulted.

We all then started to follow Akaineko as he led us to where Lidelle's clone was waiting for us. My guess is…it won't be as easy as it was with Rania.

Meaning…we’re going to have to fight this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is. The FINAL Puyo character to be added to the story. Now I know what your thinking. “Chetta doesn’t really count”. Well, she kinda does. I mean, just because she only appears in Puyo Puyo Quest (a mobile game, for those who don’t know), doesn’t mean she’s not a real character. The same can be said about Peruvis and the angels in Love of Puyo Puyo.
> 
> I also wanted the last Puyo character to have a major role in all this. I actually considered Rulue. Then Chico. Then Peruvis. Then Ecolo. Until I decided to bring Chetta into the story because of how freaking OP I made Akaineko sound in Fever.
> 
> By the way, “Akaineko” means red cat in Japanese.
> 
> And as far as I know, Adeleine is NOT 16-years-old. In fact, I don't think she even has an age. Which is weird, since she's the only human.
> 
> Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Next chapter is the battle with Lidelle’s clone. Look forward to it. And thanks for reading. Later.


	39. A Battle of Demon Girls

As we continued to go through Butter Building, Akaineko’s meows and hisses grew more aggressive. So we knew we were getting closer to Lidelle’s clone.

There were a lot of stairs in this place. And as we climbed higher, some of us were starting to feel the high altitude Adeleine warned us about.

Myself included.

“ _Ugh…I’m getting a little lightheaded._ ”

“What? The Light Soul can’t handle a little altitude increase? That’s pretty…”

***SMACK***

“Ow!”

“Watch it, Schezo. I could easily throw you off this building if I wanted to.” Raffina said after hitting him in the head.

“Tch. Fine. Never mind.”

“Are you really okay, Amitie? You look a little dizzy.” Arle asked.

“ _Y-Yeah. I’m ***headshake***_ I’m fine, Arle. It’s was only temporary.”

“Really?”

“Am, you don’t have to lie. You can admit that you’re afraid.” Ringo said.

“But I’m not afraid. And why is this coming from you of all people?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

"Ringo. Your eyes are closed." Misuki said.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Adeleine asked.

“Of course I do. I got Maguro guiding me.”

“And you don’t mind?”

“Just helping out a friend…who’s afraid of heights.” Maguro answered.

“ **M-Maguro! Th-That’s supposed to be a secret!** ”

"It's super obvious." Literally, everyone retorted.

“ _Meow. Meow._ ”

“What is it, Akaineko?” Chetta asked her cat.

“ _Meow meow meow._ ”

“The soul’s energy is coming from up past this star-thingy?”

“Meow!”

“Up there? That’s where Nutty Noon is.” Ribbon said.

“Nutty Noon?” Raffina asked.

“It’s a huge tower up in the clouds. It’s also the only entrance into the cloud areas we have here.” Adeleine explained.

“I see. So we’re just getting higher at this point.”

“ _S-So Lidelle’s up in the clouds…w-waiting for us…S-Sis, I don’t think I can go up there. I-I’m scared._ ” Raina said in fear.

“Huh? Why not?”

“ _B-Because. Out of all the clones, Lidelle is the deadliest. She found enjoyment in killing me. And had come close to doing so every day since we were created. I don't want to face her again! She'll kill me for real this time since I betrayed Amitie!_ ”

"Raina…it's okay. You don't have to go. In fact, I'll stay here with you. Will that help?"

“ _Y-Yeah. It will. Thanks, Sis._ ” Raina then hugged her original self.

“Sorry, guys. Looks like I’m sitting out this one.”

“It’s okay, Raffina.” Lidelle said. “In fact, it makes what I’m about to say a lot easier.”

“Huh? Say what?”

Lidelle went silent for a bit. Then, with her fists clenched together, she said:

“Guys…I want to fight my clone alone.”

“ **WHAT?!** ” Most of us yelled in shock.

“ **L-Lidelle! A-Are you insane?!** ” Misuki yelled.

“ **Didn’t you hear what Raina said?! Yours is the most deadly!** ” Ringo yelled.

“I know. Which is why I want to fight her alone.”

“L-Lidelle! L-Let’s be reasonable about this!” Arle said. “You don’t know what that clone will do to you!”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

“Huh?! Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

Lidelle didn’t answer. In fact, she completely ignored us and jumped onto the Warpstar-looking thing.

“ **Lidelle! Stop! This isn’t right!** ” Raffina shouted.

“I know what I’m doing! Don’t follow me!” Lidelle yelled with a serious look on her normally shy face. It was honestly terrifying to look at. And none of us wanted to say anything to her with that face present.

So we all watched as Lidelle flew away on the Warpstar look-a-like to the next area known as Nutty Noon.

“Lidelle…what is wrong with you?” I asked myself as I tried to hold in my tears.

But then all of a sudden, the star reappeared out of thin air. Almost like it…respawned or something.

“I’m going after her!” I yelled as I tried to get onto the star with my broken leg.

“Hold on a second.” We heard a recognizable voice. We all then turned around to see Taranza, Susie, and Meta Knight walking up towards us.

“Guys? What are you all doing here?” Adeleine asked.

“Magolor told us you all would be here.” Taranza said.

“So Lidelle already left, huh?” Susie asked.

“Y-Yeah, she did. Which is why I was going to go after her when you all showed up.”

“Amitie, listen.” Meta Knight said. “You may be the Light Soul, but it’s best if you stay out of this fight.”

“Huh?! Why should I?!”

“There’s just something about that Lidelle girl that makes her more suitable for this than your current state of power.”

“More suitable?”

“What we mean is…Lidelle has some extreme power.” Taranza said.

“Some of it is unknown even in this universe.” Susie added.

“What? I find that hard to believe.” Schezo said.

“Yeah, I agree. That girl didn’t seem more powerful than a tiny bug.” Flamberge added.

“You’ll all be surprised. Trust us.”

“We even brought this screen from the ship to prove it.” Taranza said as he pulled out a tiny screen to show us the fight that was going to happen.

As everyone gathered around, Raffina and I were a little hesitant. Mainly because we were questioning ourselves just how well do we know our classmate and friend.

“H-Hey, Amitie. J-Just how powerful **IS** Lidelle?”

“I-I…I honestly don’t know, Raffina.”

…

…

“I’m too scared to find out.” We both said after a mixed silence of fear and worry.

* * *

 

**Gateway Sky Tower – Nutty Noon**

 

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

Now I know what you’re thinking. What I’m doing is completely reckless, stupid, and above all…not like me at all. But I have my reasons for doing this. Reasons I can’t really explain right now. But you’ll learn soon enough.

“So this is Nutty Noon, huh? It’s quite peaceful. And the view is really pretty from here. I just hope I don’t cause too much damage to this place.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _So you actually showed up, huh?_ ”

After hearing the distorted creepy version of my own voice, I saw her. Standing right across from me in a fair distance.

My evil clone.

Like most clones would, she looked exactly like me. There were a few minor differences, though. Her outfit, for one, was completely different from mine. Her clothes looked ragged. Like she was attacked by something. Her light-green t-shirt was all torn up. To the point where part of her undershirt was showing. Her black jeans were made into jeans shorts due to the bottom half being ripped off. And her sneakers, although the same design as mine, where completely destroyed.

And along with the green markings all over her body, there was a green soul symbol plastered on her exposed stomach.

_Even her outfit just screams evil._

“You think I wouldn’t show up after learning what you plan to do?” I asked myself.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _I’ll give you that. Although, I was hoping you would cry all the way back to your mommy and brother and make this a whole lot easier._ ”

“Yeah, well clearly it won’t be that way. I did come here on my own to defeat you, Clone.”

“ _Clone? Now, that’s not a nice thing to say. I deserve a name, too. So from now on, just call me Ridel. Ridel Honnari._ ”

"So not only do you steal and change my first name, but you chose the evilest type of my kind to be your last name? You truly are despicable."

“ _Well, look at you being all tough girl. I once thought you were a worthless crybaby that no one pays attention to. But who would’ve thought that I would be a clone of the future queen of hell? **All the more reason to kill you and your family! And take that title for myself! *giggle***_ ”

“You evil psychopath! Going after me is one thing! But going after my family?! When Satan told me about how you really are, I knew you had to be killed immediately!”

“ _Aw. Does the wimpy wittle crybaby still rely on her precious Onee-sama? Ha! How pathetic! A complete wuss like you would be a total waste for the ultimate control of demons and hell spawns alike. Once I kill you and your crappy family, I'll use that power for its true purpose. **Torturing every last mortal in existence! It’ll be like an Endless Armageddon!** ***giggle***_ ”

“Do you honestly think I would let that happen?!” I yelled out of anger.

“ _What? Do you plan on stopping me? You're an idiot if you think you have even a little chance of beating me. ***giggle***_ ”

“ ** _Grr…_ UNLEASH!**” I shouted.

It was not long after that I started transforming. I grew big black demonic-like wings on my back. And sharp black claws on my fingers. My blue eyes had turned into a demonic light-green color. And like my clone, had light-green marks appear all over my body.

This is what happens when I have to fight evil demons in hell to prevent them from escaping to the surface.

This…is my hell spawn form.

“My name is Lidelle Namanari. Daughter of late and great Demon King Namanari. And the future Queen of Hell itself. With these powers passed down to me by my father, I’ll stop your evil plans! I’ll protect my family and every mortal alive! **I WILL KILL YOU!** ”

“ ** _Nyahahahaha!!! Alright! Bring it on, you weak spineless fool!!!_** ” Ridel shouted back.

“ **LET’S…** ”

“ ** _PUYO BATTLE!_** ”

* * *

 

***MEANWHILE…***

“ _My name is Lidelle Namanari. Daughter of late and great Demon King Namanari. And the future Queen of Hell itself. With these powers passed down to me by my father, I’ll stop your evil plans! I’ll protect my family and every mortal alive! **I WILL KILL YOU!**_ ”

“Th-Th…The Future Queen of Hell? C-Can Lidelle really do that?” Chetta asked.

“ **Never mind that! What the hell happened to Lidelle?! Why does she look like that?!** ” Ringo asked in a panicked fear.

“It’s because of her other half.” Taranza said.

“Her other half?” We asked. But then, after thinking about it…

"Wait. Is it because she's half hellspawn?" Arle asked.

“That’s correct, Arle.” Susie said. “Not only are Lidelle and her family Royalty in the underworld, but they also protect the surface world. Eradicating any and all demonic souls who try to cause harm to the world above them. Thus why she has such extreme power.”

“She also tries to hide said extreme power. But when each of us first met her, it was too overbearing to ignore.” Meta Knight added.

“Indeed, it was.” Francisca said.

“Wait, what?! Francisca, **you knew?!** ” Flamberge yelled.

“Yes. I did. Weren’t you able to tell as well, Flamberge? It was very obvious for us to notice.”

“…”

“I-I was…doing something else.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Flamberge. I do like you, but you are indeed lazy.”

“H-Hey!”

“Wow. Lidelle keeping that much power and an important job like that a secret for so long. I’m impressed.” Misuki said.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Raffina said. “I didn’t even know her last name until now. Lidelle Namanari. Why does that sound familiar?”

“Namanari?” Yu asked. “Those are demons who summon spirits that leave the body of a living person and haunts other people or places.”

“ **Wh-What?!** ” Ringo, Adeleine, and Ribbon yelled in shock.

“Calm down. They’re still nice demons. In fact, probably one of the few nice ones.”

“They also have horns.” Rei added.

“Oh, yeah. There’s also that.”

“ _Woah. So cool._ ” Raina said.

“Makes me look at Lidelle a lot differently now.” Marx said.

“But…if Lidelle is truly that powerful, doesn’t that mean her clone is as well?” Chetta asked.

“Yes. No doubt that’s true.” Meta Knight answered.

“ **Poyo! Poyo!** ” Kirby yelled to get our attention.

“Huh?! What is it, Kirby?!” I asked.

He then showed us the screen showing the two Lidelles still fighting each other. Problem is…our Lidelle was losing. Badly.

“ _The battle only just started and it already doesn’t look good for Lidelle._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Lidelle…please be careful.” Was all I could say as we all continued to watch the battle unfold some more.

Whether we like it or not.

* * *

 

**BOSS: Vs. Ridel Honnari**

“ ** _*giggle*_** _I’ll admit. You are pretty tough. Worthy of being an original. But that’s all you got going for ya. Why don’t you just give up and die already?_ ”

Ridel was taunting me as I stood across from her slowly catching my breath. As I thought she was, she’s just as strong as me. But she’s probably even stronger with the demonic powers **AND** Yu’s eternal soul in her possession.

“Tch! I’m not through, yet!” I yelled as I got back up again. “ **Vento!** " I then cast my wind spell and fired it at the copy. Only for her to dodge it completely.

“ ** _Raffiche!_** " Ridel then cast a spell similar to mine. Only the wind was black and full of despair. And I dodged the attack and they hit the ground, it formed a hole into it. And soon, a bunch of white hands came out of it trying to drag someone down to Hell with them. But they soon disappeared once they realized no one was there.

“N-No way. Th-Those were…”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Impressed? I already gained control of the Sky Trees. They now do as I say. And once I hit you, they’ll murder you and drag your lifeless body straight down to Hell. ***giggle***_ ”

“ _Grr…_ Like I’ll let that happen!”

I flew up into the sky and soon my clone followed suit.

“ **Uragano!** ”

“ ** _Mulinello_** ** _!_** ”

I created a hurricane while Ridel created a whirlpool. A black one, like the gusts of wind from before. As we both shot them at the same time, the wind from both currents made it hard for me to see what was happening.

But as they cleared up, Ridel was nowhere to be found. I looked around, keeping my guard up while doing so.

“Wh-Where did you…”

“ ** _Fulmine!_** ”

***ZAP***

“ **Gah!** ”

I was suddenly struck by a powerful lightning bolt cast by Ridel, who had somehow snuck up behind me and did a sneak attack. I then fell down to the ground. Too paralyzed to move. And the Sky Trees were slowly grabbing my body and pulling me down to Hell.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _This is it. The end of you._ ” Ridel taunted. “ _I thought you would put up a better fight than that since you were alone. But I knew I was right. You’re nothing but a wuss. A weakling. A pathetic little crybaby. And now, you’ll die with those traits forever stuck with you._ ”

“ **Tch! N-No! I-It can’t! It can’t end like this! You psychotic copy!** ”

“ _Aw. Don’t be like that. Be happy that you’ll get to see your family again. I’ll have to kill them, first. But you get the idea. ***giggle***_ ”

“ **N-No! NO! LET ME GO!** ” I shouted in anger.

“ ** _NYAHAHAHAHAHA! ENJOY ENDLESS TORTURE, YOU LITTLE…_** ”

“ **Burning Flame!** ”

Suddenly, a big fireball surrounded by 3 smaller fireballs came out of nowhere and attacked the spot I was in. They each attacked and burned off the Sky Trees that were grabbing hold of my arms and legs.

Unlike the small ones, which disappeared along with the Sky Trees, the big fireball rose up and landed next to me. The flames then dispersed. Allowing me to see who it was that saved me. And I was honestly shocked.

“ **A-Amitie?!** ”

“You okay, Lidelle?” She asked me.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine now. B-But what are you doing up here? I told you not to follow me.”

“You were about to die and be dragged down to Hell! I wasn’t going to let that happen! I know you were only trying to protect us, Lidelle! But you don’t need to hide your other half from us anymore!”

“A-Amitie…”

“We all promised we would do this together. And as my duty as the Light Soul, I won’t allow you to risk your life while fighting this monster of a clone. Let’s beat her together. As friends would and should.”

She looked way too serious about this. Dead serious, too. A trait she usually isn’t known for. But having Amitie’s support right now, although unwanted from the beginning, was really helpful now. And I would be an even bigger idiot than before if I said no to this.

“Amitie…th-thank you.” I said. “Let’s beat Ridel together.”

“Right!” Amitie cheered.

We both turned to face Ridel, who was watching the whole time. She had a creepy evil smile on her face. And I think I know why.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _So you’re Amitie the Light Soul? Well, this only makes my day even better. Cause now I got two victims for the prize of one. ***giggle***_ ”

“Ugh. You really are despicable. How can anyone like you just exist like this?” Amitie asked.

“ _I'll tell ya, Light Soul. I've got big plans for once I get you nuisances out the way. I'll be The Eternal Queen of Hell. Demons will freely fly around these pitiful universes of yours. And mortals will either bow down to their new queen...or die if they ever try to rebel. Ha. And I'm so close to it, too. I can almost taste it. ***giggle***_ ”

“ **As if!** ” We both shouted.

* * *

 

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

As Lidelle flew back up into the sky, I stayed on the ground and decided to help her as much as I can from down here.

“ **Vento!** ”

“ ** _Raffiche!_** ”

“ **Uragano!** ”

“ ** _Mulinello!_** ”

“ **Tifone!** ”

“ ** _Ciclone!_** ”

I watched as the two Lidelles fought more and more. Spamming their magic spells one after another. All while I avoided the scary white hands that tried to drag Lidelle to Hell.

Both were looking tired at this point. Each regaining their breaths while staring angerly at each other.

“ ** _Grr…why won’t die already?!_** ” Lidelle’s clone (who wants to be called Ridel) yelled out of anger.

“ **That’s my line, you copy!** ” Lidelle yelled back.

_At this rate, they’ll both kill each other at the same time. I gotta do something to help Lidelle. But what?_

_…_

_Hmm…maybe I could try…_

“ ** _Tch! Whatever. This may use the rest of my energy. But if it’ll destroy the both of you in a heartbeat, then I’ll do whatever it takes._** ”

Ridel flew back a bit and placed her left hand in front. Aiming at both of us. It started to glow a black-ish glow. With a mix of different shades of black.

And then…

“ ** _Monocromatico!_** ”

…she blasted a dark-colored rainbow at the both of us. It was heading our way and at a very fast pace.

_I have to time this just right._

_Ready…_

“ **Amitie!** ” Lidelle shouted as she began flying over to me at rapid speed.

_Aim…_

“ ** _*giggle* Say goodbye, Light Soul! You won’t be missed! By me, that is!_** ” Ridel taunted me.

“ **Mirror!** ” I shouted as I changed into the Mirror Ability and reflected the attack back at Ridel, who never saw it coming.

“ ** _Gaaah!_** ” Ridel’s own attack struck her good as she fell to the ground hard. Her wings were smoking and her body was paralyzed with electricity.

“ _Wh-What the…what was that? You cheat!”_

“Hurry, Lidelle! Before she gets back up!”

“R-Right, Amitie!” Lidelle flew over to and landed in front of Ridel. She placed her right hand on her forehead and it started to glow.

“ **Extract!** ”

Both Lidelles had a glow a different shade of green before it eventually stopped. And when it did, I saw that Lidelle had a white orb-shaped mist in her hand while Ridel was crouched down on one knee taking extremely huge deep breaths as she stared angerly at her original self.

It was then I knew…the battle was over. And Lidelle had won.

* * *

 

“ ** _Grr…_** _I can’t believe it. I actually lost to you. And we’re supposed to be equally matched._ ”

“Well, we aren’t anymore.” I said to my clone. “I took back the part of Yu’s eternal soul from your body. So without this, you’re the pathetic weakling now. You’re finished, Ridel. It’s over. And now it’s off to Hell with you.”

As a black circle appeared underneath her, Ridel grew angrier as she was slowly being pulled down to the depths of Hell.

“ _Gah! You may have won this time, Lidelle! But I’m not that easy to kill! I’ll be back! And I’ll get my revenge! On you, **AND** the Light Soul as well! **My**_ ** _Armageddon will soon come to be! *giggle* *giggle* Nyahahahaha!_** ”

By this time, Ridel had been fully consumed by the black circle. And it soon disappeared within the ground we were standing on.

“W-Woah.” Was all Amitie could say.

“She isn’t bluffing, Amitie.”

“Huh? Wh-What do you mean?” She turned to face me. I had reverted back to normal at this point. So it was easy for her to look at me.

“Even though I have part of Yu’s eternal soul in my hand, Ridel is still a demon. And demons are not easy to kill. She’ll probably recover a bit while in Hell. But Ridel will be back. And she won’t stop until she kills me and takes my rightful place as the Queen of Hell. It’s going to be tough from now on. Don’t know how I’m going to explain this to Satan and Mother.”

"Lidelle. Don't worry. If and when Ridel comes back, we'll be ready to put her back in her place. We won't let a psychopathic clone kill our friend. And we all will make sure of it."

I didn’t answer for a bit. But then after a bit of staring, I wrapped my arms around Amitie and she did the same. Embracing each other in a big long hug.

"Thank you…Amitie. You really are a really good Light Soul and a great friend."

“You’re welcome, Lidelle. And I’m sure you’ll be a great queen someday.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Yeah. I know it.”

_And Dad will be proud of it, too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Born from a mix of Lidelle’s demonic DNA and Yu’s eternal soul, Ridel Honnari is a threat to be reckoned with. Her goal is to kill Lidelle and steal her title as the Queen of Hell. And with her first attempt ended in defeat, she won’t stop until her desire comes true.
> 
> I’ll be honest. Lidelle’s clone was the one I was worried about. As in, how was I going to portray her. This took a lot of thinking. Even during when I was introducing Raina. But I’m okay with the final outcome. As I did say in previous stories that Lidelle is related to Hell in more ways than one.
> 
> Also, I FINALLY gave Lidelle a last name. “Namanari” is a type of the Hannya, a Japanese demon. There are a total of 3 types. And Namanari are the least evil. Still looking like human women while having small horns on their head. It sounds like a lot like Lidelle, doesn’t it?
> 
> And then Honnari are the evilest. Looking way less human and more…monstrous. This is what Ridel is based off, but I kept her part-human. For consistency.
> 
> Ridel’s Spells (In English)
> 
> Gusts (Raffiche)
> 
> Whirlpool (Mulinello)
> 
> Cyclone (Ciclone)
> 
> Lightning (Fulmine)
> 
> Monochrome (Monocromatico)
> 
> That’s it for now. If you’re enjoying it, then feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	40. A Simple Sunset Chat

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

“W-Wow. L-Lidelle, I…I didn’t think you were that powerful.”

“It’s rather…shocking.”

“I’m kinda scared right now.”

“G-Guys, come on.” Lidelle said to Raffina, Arle, and Ringo as the rest of the group met us up in Nutty Noon. “Just because I’m the daughter of the Demon King and soon to be the Queen of Hell in the near future doesn’t make me all the more different from how you used to know me.”

“I-It kinda does, Lidelle.” Ribbon said with a sweatdrop.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“ _I-It should be fine._ ” I said to Kirby. “ _Can’t believe my leg lasted throughout that fight in- **OWIE ow ow!**_ ”

“ _Poyo._ ”

“ _I know it was dumb of me to interfere like that. But I had to help Lidelle. If I didn’t, Ridel would’ve killed her for sure. Haven’t you done something like that during your past adventures?_ ”

Kirby went silent for a bit. I guess he **_really_** had to think about it. Which is understandable with the title and job he has.

“Poyo.”

“See? So you understand why I had to do that. My leg may take even longer to heal now. But I don’t regret it. As long as my friends are safe.”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo?”

“Easy. I’ll just keep using ESP. It makes me float, remember?”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“It’s not supposed to do that? Really?”

“Poyo.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** It’s probably another Light Soul-exclusive thing. Kinda like my…

…

…oh, yeah.”

“Poyo?” Kirby was confused.

“Well…you remember those times where I turned into that other form of me during battle?”

“Poyo.”

_Good. Cause I don’t._

“Thinking about it again…it honestly has me worried.”

“Poyo?”

“I mean…based on what Meta Knight said, this other form is a mix of the Light Soul’s powers and my own anger for being called weak my entire life. He said that I have to control it. But what if…what if I can’t by the time I fight Amitwo? No doubt she’s gonna call me weak. And then I’ll turn into that form again and do…who-knows-what.”

I started feeling a mix of sad and afraid. Sad that I can’t control a possibly helpful power of mine. And afraid of what could happen in the future.

Then Kirby got up and stood in front of me with a determined look on his cute little face.

“Poyo!”

“Poyo!”

“Poyo!”

“Poyo!”

He kept saying that for a good while. And I was kinda confused at first. But after thinking about it more, I understood what he was trying to do.

And it was rather sweet of him.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Sorry, Kirby. But I don’t think it’s working.”

“Poyo?”

“It’s probably because I actually need to hear the word weak instead of just “Poyo”.”

“ _Poyo…_ ” Kirby sounded sad.

"But thanks for trying though. You're a really good friend, little buddy."

“Poyo poyo!”

As Kirby was cheering, Akaineko came out of nowhere and jumped on his head. Failing asleep soon after.

“P-Poyo…”

**_*giggle*_ ** _Looks like Kirby really doesn’t like that._

“Akaineko. Don’t sleep on his head.” Chetta said as she grabbed her 2-dimensional cat and held him in her arms.

“Hey, Chetta.” I greeted her. Then looked behind her to see that everyone else was gone. “Where’d did everyone go?”

“They went back on this ship thing they were talking about. I wanted to enjoy this view a bit longer. Still can’t believe this is a completely different world. Is this what space-time travel is like?”

“Well…it’s kinda like that. Although, we didn’t use space-time to get here. More like…a star-shaped galaxy-like portal.”

“Huh. I see.”

As the three of us continued to look at this beautiful view of Dream Land from a top of Nutty Noon, we started seeing a bright light in the distance. It wasn’t the sun. The light was more…light blue in color. It was kinda odd. At least for us.

“Whoa. What was that?” I asked.

“Not sure. But it looked like it came from up ahead.” Chetta said.

“Let’s go check it out! Come on, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

“W-Wait, Amitie! Shouldn’t we get the others?” Chetta asked.

“I’m sure it’ll be quick. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Chetta.”

"Well, of course, I'm coming. We don't want to miss whatever this is. Right, Akaineko?"

“ _Meow._ ” Akaineko meowed like how a cat would when they wake up from a nap.

“Alrighty then. Let’s go.” I said.

 

The four of us were now running across the white fluffy clouds towards the spot where the strange light-blue light was coming from. As we continued doing so, the white fluffy clouds soon turned into orange fluffy clouds. And we soon came across a really big yellow-ish castle in the sky. It looked ruined. But at the same time, it looked rather pretty mixed in with the sunset.

“ _Woah._ ” I said in amazement. “ _Kirby, you never said anything about a castle in the sky._ ”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“It’s always been here? But it’s normally abandoned?”

“ _Wow_! Such a huge castle! I’ve never seen anything like it! I **SO** wish I could paint this right now!” Chetta yelled with glee and excitement.

“Uh…Chetta. I don’t think we have the time to do that.”

“Aw, phooey. If only I would’ve known about this place earlier…”

“So the weird light came from here?” I asked.

“Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Big and a lot of climbing, huh? Well, I’m sure we can handle it. I climb things all the time.”

“Climbing?” Chetta asked. “Well…if I do that, I can get an even better view of this world. It’ll be the _purrfect_ painting!”

“Ch-Chetta! **_*giggle*_** I-I can’t believe you actually said that!”

“My love for cats holds no bounds, Amitie. Right, my _purrecious_ little cutie?”

“Meow.” Akaineko soon began to purr as Chetta started petting his head.

**_*giggle*_ ** _Oh my God. I need to calm down._

“Alright. Let’s go inside. Help me open the doors, Kirby.”

“Poyo!”

The two of us each took one side of the door. And began pulling the handles that were on them. It was a bit tricky, but we managed to get them open.

And so our small group went inside. About to explore this abandoned castle in the sky.

_I hope my leg doesn’t give out like the other two times…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 40 chapters! My God! I did NOT think it would be this long! Anyway, this is just a simple chapter since the last one was a boss chapter. Next time, Amitie, Kirby, and Chetta will explore the castle in the sky. To see what that light-blue light was.
> 
> Nutty Noon is my favorite world from my favorite game in the series. I just love using Wing to fly across the first level and explore the tower levels that come after it. And then there’s the Grand Doomer. The trick it pulls before the fight is probably the most memorable moment about it.
> 
> And then the music! GOD I love the music in this world! My two favorites are the Grape Garden remix and the FREAKING MAP THEME! Why is the map theme so good?!
> 
> So with two of my stories completed, I’ll try to update this story more as much as I can. It’s not a promise, though. Things could change. In the meantime, feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	41. Second Thoughts...

“Woah! The view here is amazing!”

After entering the tower in the sky, we climbed up these stairs and opened two more doors with switches to began exploring the inner depths of it. Or at least I think we are. It’s been like 10 minutes and we can still see the outside.

Nothing wrong with that. I did say that the view is amazing.

“It looks like we’re really high up.” Chetta said.

“I know, right? I think we may be over Dream Land at this point.”

“Dream Land?”

“That’s the name of this world. Much like how our world is named Primp Town.”

“I see. So we’re really high above Dream Land?”

“Poyo poyo. Poyo.”

“Um…what did he say?” Chetta looked confused.

“He said that Nutty Noon is the highest point in all of Dream Land. And  that people often come up here to look at the view of the entire area.” I translated. “Right?”

“Poyo!”

“Wow. So you can understand what Kirby says, Amitie?”

“Yeah. Although I didn’t at first. I had to use my hat for it to work.”

“I see. Hey, speaking of which…where **IS** your hat? You’re usually never without it.”

…

_Aw, geez. I’m gonna have to tell her, am I?_

“W-Well…y-you know how I’m the Light Soul?”

“Yeah…”

“W-Well…t-turns out that the Dark Soul…w-was my hat.”

“ ** _Was_** your hat?”

"A-At some point in the past, my hat made contact with this thing called a Puyo Soul. A-And it became an evil clone of me. Named Dark Red Amitie."

“W-Woah! Th-That’s…scary!”

“Meow.” Akaineko meowed.

“Yeah. It really is.”

“So this Dark Red Amitie person is…”

“Yeah. The one who caused all this mess. And now I have to stop her and save this universe from being destroyed. Although, I do feel kinda bad.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because. When me, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina came to this world, we believed that it was just to clear up a bunch of puyos that somehow got here. But now with something this big a life-changing, I kinda regret dragging you guys into what is technically my mess to clean up."

“Poyo? Poyo poyo?”

“What? No, Kirby. I don’t regret meeting you guys. It’s just…”

…

**_*moan*_ ** _I actually don’t know how to say it…_

“Hey, Amitie. Are you okay? You’re crying.” Chetta said.

I felt my face beneath my eyes. And realized that I really was crying. Why? Why was I crying? Could it be this fear of losing to my clone and letting Dream Land get destroyed? If that really happened…I would have let everyone down. Especially Kirby.

…

Or maybe…maybe I truly do regret coming here.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _I mean, what was I thinking? There’s no way I can do this. Saving the universe? I can’t even save my allowance. How did I get tasked with something as big as this? Am I really qualified to be_ **_THE_** _Light Soul?_ ”

“Poyo…”

“Amitie…”

“Meow…

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Maybe Schezo was right. Maybe there was a mistake with the legend. ***sniff* *sob*** I’m really am…I really am weak._ ”

“ **Like hell you are!** ”

_Huh?! Th-Those voices…_

We turned around to see Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Lidelle, and Raina standing across from us.

“G-Guys?! Wh-What are you doing here?!” I asked in shock.

“We were wondering where you three went. That’s when Magolor told us about this tower in the sky.” Ringo said.

“ _Y-You didn’t…hear what I said, did you?_ ”

“Every word, Am.”

“Are you really going to believe what that idiot pervert told you?” Arle asked.

“ _B-But…_ ”

“ **But NOTHING! You’re not weak, Amitie! FAR from it!** ”

“ _Wh-What do you know? You don’t know how I feel._ ”

“Maybe not. But I do know that you’re not weak.”

“ ** _Why do you keep saying that?! It's all a lie! I'm a weak spineless fool! One who believed she could save an entire universe! I'm such an idiot!_** ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“Huh?” I turned over to Kirby, who had an angered look on his face. “What? You’re gonna tell me the same lie too, Kirby?”

“ **Poyo! Poyo poyo! Poyo!** ”

“ **But I’m not like you! I’m not a Star Warrior! I could barely perfect my old spells when I had them. All of this! This was just a lucky mistake! All from the very beginning!** ”

“Was it a lucky mistake that you met Kirby?” Arle asked.

…

“W-Well…no. But…”

“Was it a mistake that you taught Kirby how to play Puyo Puyo?” Ringo asked.

…

“A-Again, no. But..”

“Was it a mistake that you wanted to come to this world and rid the puyos that were falling here?” Raffina asked.

…

“O-Once again, no. But…”

“And was it a mistake that, no matter what, you promised we’ll all be friends forever?” Lidelle asked.

“O-Okay, I get it! those weren’t mistakes. In fact, I don’t regret saying or doing those things. But this whole Light Soul and Dark Soul thing. And then there’s… _her_.”

“ _Amitie…_ ” Raina said to me. “ _This may be irrelevant right now, but both you and Sis said you’ll protect me from Amitie’s wrath. And that you’ll defeat her once and for all. When I heard that, plus the fact that you didn’t kill me for being a clone…i-it was the first time since being created that…I felt happy. I actually look up to you, Amitie. You’re my hero._ ”

“ _H…Hero?_ ”

“And no weak person can have someone idolize them, Amitie. Just look at me. _Oh, La-Ti-Da!_ ” Raffina praised herself.

“No one likes a gloater.” Lidelle said.

“H-Hey!”

“M-Me? A-A hero?” I asked.

“No doubt about that, Am. You’re the bravest girl I know.” Ringo said.

“Probably as brave as me. If not more.” Arle said.

“You even helped me defeat Ridel when it was too dangerous to even face her. You really are a hero, Amitie.” Lidelle said.

“We would probably be still stuck in that old building if you didn’t show up.” Chetta said. “Right, Akaineko?”

“Meow.”

“And you did help us save Kirby from that snake monster before.” Raffina added.

“W-Well…yeah. But only partly.”

“Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Huh?! I’m your hero too, Kirby?!”

“Poyo poyo.”

"You would've never been able to do this yourself?! Really?!"

“Poyo!”

All of these things everyone’s saying about me…I didn’t want to believe it. My head was still filled with doubts. But the more I thought about it, the more those doubts started being erased from my mind. It was like…a new found of hope and courage was fused with my current body’s state.

It was a new feeling. And it felt really good.

"E-Everyone. Th-Thank you. I-I don't know what I was thinking. Truth is…I'm scared. Scared of what could happen down the road. I mean…this whole adventure is almost over. And I don't want to mess it all up."

“That’s why you got us, you moron. Aren’t we your friends?” Raffina asked.

Even though I was just called a moron, I still laughed at the question being asked to me.

“Yeah. You guys really are my friends.”

“See? Now let’s continue exploring this place.”

“Wait, huh? You mean you guys are coming along?”

“Am, we’re so far away from the ship. Walking back would just be a waste of time.” Ringo said.

“O-Oh, yeah. Good point.”

“Alright then. Let’s get going!” Arle cheered.

“Meow.”

“I know, right? A sentimental moment in a grand adventure. It’s all just too _purrfect_.”

We all looked at Chetta for a bit. Then Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Lidelle, and I began laughing at the fact that she made a cat-related pun.

“ _Wait, I don’t get it. What’s so funny?_ ” Raina asked.

“Poyo?” Kirby was just as confused as her.

“We’ll explain it, you two. Just come on.” Raffina said.

We then continued to make our way through this Sky Tower. This time, with a doubt-free mindset as I was surrounded by people who care about me so much.

_Gee. I’m so lucky to have such great friends._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No notes this time. Just a regular old update. Thanks for reading. Later.


	42. Not A Normal Clone

It’s been a good while since the confidence boost I’ve gotten from everyone. And yet… ** _we’re still climbing this tower!_**

“ _Geez, Kirby. Just how big is this place anyway?_ ” I asked him.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo.”

“It goes as far as outer-space?! We don’t wanna go that far!”

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo?”

“Well…yeah, I want to know what that thing was. But if we have to go that far to get it…”

“Wait, what thing?” Ringo asked.

“We saw this light-blue light fall from the sky and land somewhere in here. That’s why us three came here.” Chetta explained.

“A light-blue light?”

“Sounds suspicious.” Arle said.

“Yeah…” I agreed. “But if it’s as far as outer-space, then I really don’t think it’s worth it. And besides, using this ESP Ability is starting to drain me out. I don’t think I could use it much longer.”

"Guess you'll have to wait until your leg heals on its own, then." Raffina said.

“ ** _*sigh*_** I guess.”

_But who knows how long that’s going to take?_

***RUMBLE***

“Huh?!”

***RUMBLE***

"Are you kidding me? More of this rumbling?" Raffina asked in an annoyed tone.

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

“G-Guys, it’s already near us!” Ringo shouted in fear.

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***BOOM***

We didn’t have time to react. As the nearby wall shattered in front of us and caused a whole bunch of smoke to form.

I saw a shadowy figure standing in the midst of it. it looked big and threatening. I wasn't sure if we should fight it or run for the ship. But with a simple flash of light along with the smoke clearing up…

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered.

“Huh?” I then got a good look at what he was seeing. “King Dedede?”

“ ***confident grunt*** ”

“What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Well, now. That should be enough.”

Out from behind Dedede came out a mouse that wore a red cape and a red top hat that he held over his eyes. From looking at him, three things came to mind.

One, h-he’s floating. I don’t understand that.

Two, he looks rather sneaky.

And three…

_He looks really familiar…_

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“Huh? I asked Kirby. “You said his name is… Daroach?”

"Aw. You're the group of girls from the ship that day. Yes, indeed. I am Daroach. Leader of The Squeaks. We search all throughout Dream Land and above to take claim of the grandest treasures around. Though, I believe in your world this is referred to as "bandits". Am I right?"

“Yeah, sounds about right.” Ringo said.

***Introductions happen here. Don’t feel like writing them again***

“So…why did you break down that wall?” I asked.

Daroach did a soft chuckle before answering.

“Well, if you must know, I’ve gotten intel on a sacred treasure hidden somewhere in this tower. It’s said to help with this little…predicament everyone’s been going on about. So the king here and I decided to check it out a little.”

_Sacred treasure? Could that mean the final Copy Ability?_

“ ***annoyed grunt*** ” Dedede looked at him with an annoyed look.

“W-Well, yes. It is true that we got lost. But we did receive some help.”

“Really? From who?”

“Well…she was a girl with red hair. Two ponytail curls in the back. She had light-red eyes and markings all over her body of the same color.

…

Although, now that I think about it…she kinda looked a lot like you, Ringo.”

“ **H-Huh?! A-A lot like me?!** ” Ringo began to panic.

“D-Did she talk like her?” Arle asked.

“From what I remember, she talked all moody-like. And she was floating, as well.”

Based on the description Daroach gave us, there was no doubt in my mind at this point. Up ahead was Ringo’s clone. But if she’s working for Amitwo, why did she help these two by telling them where to find this sacred treasure?

It could be a trap. And knowing my own clone, she isn’t afraid to make them deadly either.

“Guys, do you know where this girl is now?” I asked.

That’s when Dedede pointed back the way they just came. Meaning that she’s probably still wherever they first saw her.

“Back there, huh?”

“Hey, Ringo. Are you, um…ready for this?” Raffina asked her.

…

“…I-I…I’m not sure.” Ringo said in a depressed tone. “I-I mean…so far we’ve got Raina, who turned out to be a bigger victim than us. And then Ridel, who’s a deranged psychopath. Finding out what my clone’s going to be like. It’s exciting…but also scary.”

“Don’t worry, Ringo. If anything happens, we’ll be there to help you out.” Arle said.

“Yeah, leave it to us.” Raffina added. “After all, three of us have already experienced our clones.”

“Yeah…but they’re aren’t as **_good_** as yours, Raffina.” Lidelle claimed.

“R-Right. Good point.”

“Hey, Raina. Do you know anything about Ringo’s clone?” I asked.

“ _Uh…actually…I really don’t remember her much. Didn’t get to see her that often, either. She would even disappear for days at a time. It was…odd._ ”

“Disappear for days?” We all said.

“Do clones normally do that?” Chetta asked.

“No, Chetta. They don’t.” Arle said.

This is rather weird. Not only does Raina not remember Ringo’s clone, but she would often disappear? For days at a time? This **_really_** needs a look over.

“Guys, I really think we should check this out. There are just too many strange things with this clone.”

“Amitie’s right. None of this makes any sense.” Raffina said.

“From the sounds of it, this clone’s completely different from Amitwo, Raina, and Ridel.” Lidelle said.

“Are you going to be okay with this, Ringo?” Arle asked her.

"Well…I am curious. Hopefully, it won't hurt us."

“And if it does, we got your back. Right, Kirby?” I asked him.

“Poyo!”

“Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

“I would love to help you and these ladies out, Kirby. But as a master treasure hunter, I cannot leave this be. We’ll catch up once we find it.” Daroach said. Dedede nodded, agreeing with the statement.

“Poyo.”

“Alright. See you guys later.” I said as our group went past the duo and into the hole-in-the-wall that they created. About to investigate the weirdness of Ringo’s clone.

But then again. This could still be all a trap. Can’t keep our guard down. Even for a second.

 

**Ringo’s POV**

 

_S-So this is it. I-I’m about to meet my clone for the first time. I-I really don’t know what to expect. Could she possibly be like Raina and turn over a new leaf? Could she be like Ridel and have her own goals of causing terror? Or is she just a slave to Amitwo?_

_I don’t know which one I want honestly. All seem like rather difficult ways to deal with it._

“ ** _*sigh*_** ”

“Hey, Ringo. You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine, Arle. I guess.”

“You’re still worried about your clone, aren’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“It’s written all over your face.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Yeah. I am. It’s just…we’ve already seen three of these clones. Sure, we got Raina. But the other two are just plain evil. What will mine turn out to be? Will she kill us the moment we meet? The possibility of that happening…I-I just can’t think straight anymore.”

I actually started tearing up from the thought of my life possibly being ended by a copy of me. The amount of fear built up inside me was greater than any encounter I had with Yu & Rei in the past. I even started feeling weak. Slumping down a little as my sadness and fear took over my body more.

But then suddenly, I felt a great force upon me. I looked over, and realized that Arle was…h-hugging me. L-Like really hard. I-I didn’t know what to do. My heart was pounding from the sudden gestor.

_Wh-What’s going on with her?_

“Ringo…it’s okay.” She said to me.

“I-It is?”

“Yeah. Because you know why?”

“Wh…Why?”

“Because if that clone tries to do anything to hurt you, I’ll be there to protect you. No matter what. I won’t let anyone hurt my friend. They won’t get the chance.”

“A-Arle…” I nearly broke into tears once she said that. to have someone care for me that much…I don’t think I’ve ever received this much care. Not even from Maguro and Risukuma. This was a feeling…

…that I loved from the beginning.

“A-Arle…th-thank you.” I said as I returned her hug.

“Anytime, Ringo. Now, uh…I think we should hurry and catch up with others. I don’t think they know where we are.”

"Huh?" I looked over behind Arle and saw that we were in fact left behind. "Wh-Whoa. I-I didn't even notice. Let's hurry."

“Right.”

We both ran down the hall in hopes of catching up with the others.

 

“Geez, where were you two? We were looking for you everywhere?” Amitie asked as the two of us ran up to the rest of the group.

“S-Sorry, guys. We got…caught up in something.” Arle said, then winked at me.

“Y-Yeah. Caught up in a…moment of sorts.” I said, then winked back at her.

…

“ _R-Right…_ ” The others looked confused. But they eventually let the whole thing go.

We kept walking down the hall and soon reached a small balcony facing the outside. Letting us see stuff such as the ship from far away. We wanted to enjoy the view once more, but…something was preventing us to.

“G-Guys, look. Over there.” Lidelle said as she pointed over to the balcony’s edge. Sitting there was a girl with red hair with two ponytail curls in the back. She also had a light-red hue all over her body. And as we stared at her, I came to a conclusion.

_This is definitely my clone._

“ _Poyo. Poyo._ ”

“ _Kirby said we should walk up to her quietly._ ” Amitie whispered.

“ _Yeah. Sounds like a good idea._ ” Raffina said.

“ _You ready, Ringo?_ ” Arle asked me.

“ _Um…I-I guess._ ” I was still nervous about this whole thing. My clone was near inches from me. There’s no telling what could happen next.

“ _Just remember what I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you._ ”

“ _Th-Thanks…Arle._ ” I felt my face get hot once I heard that.

We all started walking quietly towards the clone. Slowly getting closer to her. We were just halfway there when…

“ ** _*sigh*_** _I know you’re there._ ”

…

“ _Wh…What?_ ” We all were shocked.

The clone then turned to face us. She had a very gloomy look on her face. Which was already covered with light-red markings. Along with the rest of her body.

 “ _I said I know you’re there. All of you. And I heard you whispering too._ ” She said in a monotoned version of my voice.

“H-How?” Amitie asked.

“ _I dunno._ ”

…

…

_She knew we were here, but doesn’t know how? What sense does that make?_

“S-So…a-are you…Ringo’s clone?” Amitie asked again.

“ _I guess. Who’s Ringo?_ ”

…

…

“Uh… ** _this_** is Ringo.” Raffina said as she pointed to me. “You know, the person you’re based off?”

“ _Really?_ ” My clone then looked at me with her light-red eyes.

And then just stared…

For a good while, too…

And it was starting to get uncomfortable.

“ _I don’t see it._ ” She finally said after a **_really_** long stare down.

…

…

We all just sweatdropped at that moment.

During that, I was able to take a look at her. He outfit was, oddly fitting enough, a school uniform. But…it wasn’t Suzuran’s uniform. At least I think it wasn't. She wore a white dress shirt with a short red tie. Her skirt was the same as mine. But that was honestly the only thing we had in common, clothing wise. Her shoes were mostly white with a little bit of red (the complete opposite of mine). And you could just barely see the socks she was wearing.

Lastly was the hairpin I normally wear in my hair. While mine was a green puyo, hers was a purple one. Not sure why the different color, but it honestly looked good on me…I-I mean her.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Anyway, you guys came to take this eternal soul thing, right?_ ” My clone asked.

“Y-Yeah….h-how did you know that?” Amitie asked.

“ _I dunno._ ”

…

…

“Okay, this is getting nowhere.” Raffina was slowly getting annoyed.

“ _Can I ask you all something?_ ”

“Uh…sure. Asks us what?” Lidelle asked.

“ _What is life?_ ”

…

…

“Uh…what is life? That’s a…really vague question.”

The clone went silent for another good while. Making this conversation even more uncomfortable.

“ _Life is something that goes on whether you chose to move on and take a chance into the unknown. Or stay behind, locked in the past, thinking of what could’ve been._ ”

…

…

“P-Poyo…” Kirby said as the rest of us were speechless on what this girl just said.

_Wh-What the heck? After saying nothing for minutes on end, she says **THAT**?_

“W-Wow. R-Ringo.” Chetta said. “Y-Your clone is…really depressing.”

“Meow.”

“Y-Yeah. I-I can agree with you, Chetta.” I replied.

“ _So I’m a clone?_ ”

“Yes. You are.” Arle said.

“ _Huh._ ”

…

“ _Of who?_ ”

“Of Ringo.”

“ _Huh._ ”

…

“ _Who’s Ringo?_ ”

“This girl right here!” Arle shouted while pointing to me.

“ _Huh._ ”

…

“ _Who are you?_ ”

“ **OH MY GOD! CAN WE JUST TAKE HER SOUL ALREADY?!** ” Raffina shouted. Completely annoyed at my clone right now.

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Lidelle said as she stepped closer to her.

“ _My soul?_ ” The clone asked. “ _You mean this thing?_ ” She then took out from her pocket something we didn’t think we would see. Especially this easily.

“ **Th-That’s part of Yu’s eternal soul!** ” Lidelle shouted. “ **H-How did you get out of yourself?!** ”

“ _I dunno._ ”

“You know, I’m **_really_** getting tired of hearing that.” Raffina said.

“ _Hey. Ringo. Don’t you remember how you got that?_ ” Raina asked.

“ _No. Not really._ ”

“ _Do you remember where you came from?_ ”

“ _No. Not really._ ”

“ _Do you at least remember me?_ ”

…

…

“ _Raffina?_ ”

“ _Yes! That’s me! Only now I changed my name to Raina._ ”

“ _Raina?_ ”

…

…

“ _Nice name._ ”

“ _Right? A ghost named Rei thought of it._ ”

“ _A ghost named Rei?_ ”

…

…

“ _Is his just as lifeless as all of humanity?_ ”

“ _Uh…Sis._ ”

“Don’t look at me, Raina. I’ve just about had it with this girl.” Raffina said.

“Well, he’s lifeless. So is his sister. But that’s about it.” Everyone turned to look at me. Mostly in shock. Kirby didn’t look all too surprised.

“R-Ringo?!” Arle asked.

“Y-You’re going to be okay with this?” Amitie asked.

"Well…yeah, I do admit that she's rather depressing and spacey. But she doesn't seem like a threat. Though I will have to get used to her."

“ _Used to me?_ ” My clone asked.

“Well, you are another me. This isn’t really all that normal. Or scientific.”

“ _Oh._ ”

…

“ _Who are you again?_ ”

“I’m Ringo. Ringo Ando.”

“ _Oh._ ”

…

“ _What’s my name?_ ”

“Your name? Right. You kinda don’t have one.”

“What would you like your name to be?” Amitie asked.

…

“ _I dunno._ ”

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo.”

“Yeah. I’m feeling the same way, little buddy.” Now both Amitie and Kirby were annoyed at this point.

“ _Do you have any cherries?_ ”

“Cherries?” We were all confused with how she just spat out this question out of nowhere.

“ _I like cherries. They’re delicious._ ”

“Huh. Kinda like how you like apples, Ringo.” Arle said.

“Hm…yeah. It kinda is. And with my name meaning apple in Japanese…how does the name Cheri sound?” I asked my clone.

“ _Cheri?_ ”

…

…

“ _I like it._ ” She then said with possibly the first smile she’s ever made in her life.

“Alrighty, then! Welcome to the team, Cheri!” Amitie cheered.

“Poyo!”

“Your help will be greatly appreciated.” I said.

“ _Thank you, uh…_ ”

…

“ _What was your name again?_ ”

“ **MY NAME IS RINGO!** ” And now I was annoyed.

“ _Oh._ ” Was all Cheri said.

“Honestly…good luck, Ringo.” Raffina said.

“It looks like you’re going to need it.” Chetta added.

“Meow.”

“Thanks, guys. But I’m going to need more than luck in order to deal with this girl.”

_Probably like an aspirin or two._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheri Ando, Ringo Ando’s clone, joins the party! And like the title suggests, she’s not a normal clone. She spaces out a lot. And when she does talk, it’s often about depressing stuff.
> 
> She also can’t seem to remember Ringo’s name(or anything, for that matter). But hey, she likes cherries. Which is what her name is based off. The pronunciation is the same. It's just spelled differently. 
> 
> Going to be taking a break from this story. In the meantime, feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	43. The Star Warrior's True Power

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

10 minutes after recruiting Cheri and we’re still climbing this tower. I would complain how big this thing really is, but Kirby did tell me that we’re almost to the top. So I’m keeping my mouth shut this time.

“W-We’re so high up. I-I don’t think I could handle being this high up.” Ringo said.

“ _Try not to look down. I think that’s how you pass out._ ” Cheri said.

“P-Pass out?!”

“ _And I think you’ll fall back down and die._ ”

“ **D-Die?!** ”

“ _I think._ ”

“Cheri. If you’re not sure if that could happen, then why even say it?” Arle asked.

“ _I dunno._ ”

Arle then sighed out of annoyance. Cheri’s personality is still something we have to get used to. So far, Arle and Raffina find her a pain to hold conversations with. Especially when she starts talking about depressing stuff like life and death.

But the way I see her…she’s like a Ringo version of Sig.

…

 ** _*giggle*_** I just imagined what it would be like if Sig was a girl. Probably shouldn't tell him that, though.

"Poyo. Poyo poyo." Kirby said that we had finally reached the top of the tower as we climbed over the final few steps. The sunset view over the entirety of Dream Land was even prettier now that there weren't any walls blocking the way. It was soothing and relaxing. You could possibly bring your special crush up here and confess your love to them.

…

_M-Maybe…I-I should do that. W-With him…_

“Yo. Amitie.”

“H-Huh?”

“What’s with the blushing?” Raffina asked me.

“U-Uh…n-nothing. I-I’m fine. Really.”

Raffina didn’t look too sure of my answer. Usually, she would grill people on until they eventually tell the truth. But this time, oddly…she just let the whole thing go. Totally not like her.

_Well, whatever. At least I won’t have to tell her._

“So why did you guys come to this tower, anyway?” Arle asked Kirby, Chetta, and I.

“We saw this light-blue light fall from the sky and we wanted to check it out. But now that we’re up here, I can’t seem to find it.”

“ _Meow…_ ”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Akaineko?” Chetta asked her cat.

“ _Meow…meow meow ***hiss***._ ”

“You sense something? You mean something’s here?”

Akaineko didn’t answer.

“Is it… ** _someone_**?”

“Meow.”

“Someone’s here? Does he know who?” I asked.

“Meow.”

"He said he doesn't. But what he does know is that it's definitely a foe." Chetta translated her cat's meow.

“ _A-Aw, come on!_ ” Ringo whined out of fear. “ _F-First we climb this tall tower, and now we have to fight a scary enemy? I-I can’t do this! I-I’m going ba **AAAAAAAAAAHHH!**_ ”

As Ringo turned around, she was met face-to-face with…well…a really big red eye. It was almost the same size as us. And it was floating while blinking a lot.

“I-Is that…an **EYE**?!” Arle asked.

“Arle! Behind you!” Chetta yelled.

“Huh… ** _*terrified scream*_** ”

Arle turned around to see **ANOTHER** really big floating red eye. The same size as the other one. She was frozen in fear as it kept staring at her… _menacingly_.

“ _Wh-What’s going on?_ ” Lidelle asked as she started backing up. She then bumped into something. And when she turned around, she saw that it was yet a **THIRD** really big floating red eye.

“ ** _*really loud terrified scream*_** ” Lidelle screamed for her dear life as she ran to hide behind a nearby pillar.

“ _S-Sis…I-I’m scared._ ” Raina said as she hid behind Raffina.

“To be honest, Raina. I am too. These eyes are super creepy.”

Then after feeling a light touch on her arm, both Raffinas turned to see a **FOURTH** eye. Staring at them with a creepy stare.

“ ** _Wh-What the hell are you staring at, bud?! G-Get your creepy eye-looking self away from us! You damn pervert!_** ”

The eye didn’t react to Raffina’s yelling. In fact, none of the eyes moved an inch as they kept staring at the five girls. And I was starting to get scared myself.

“H-Hey, Chetta. W-Were these eyes the foe Akaineko was talking about?”

“Meow.” Akaineko meow normally.

“I-I sounds like it. A-Although he said that there’s a fifth one somewhere.”

“ **A FIFTH ONE?! HOW MANY OF THESE EYES ARE THERE?!** ”

“ _Five. I think._ ” Cheri said as she floated up to us.

“Five? W-Wait…Cheri, do you know what these are?!”

“ _Possibly. I think I know what they are, uh…_ ”

…

“ _What was your name again?_ ”

“ ** _Grr…_** _For puyo’s sake, Cheri._ **MY NAME IS AMITIE!** ”

That's when the four eyes turned to face me.

_F-Fiddlesticks…_

The eyes started heading towards me. And they soon circled around me from above. And after spinning really really fast, I got really dizzy. And fell to the ground.

“Amitie!”

“Poyo!”

“ _I-I’m okay, guys. J-Just a bit dizz- **EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!**_ ”

Without any warning, I was being electrocuted by the four eyes. The electric currents were rushing inside my body. The injuries I got from the Coily Rattler were hurting even more as I felt my life source was quickly being drained from me. The pain was too much. So much so, that when it finally stopped…I fell unconscious as I began to cry once more at the pain I was feeling all over my body.

_Wh-Why? Wh-Why is everyone…tr-trying to kill me?_

 

**Adeleine’s POV**

 

**_*MEANWHILE…*_ **

“Kirby! Amitie!”

…

“ ** _*sigh*_** ”

“Do you really think they climbed the entire tower, Adeleine?” Ribbon asked me.

“Well, it’s not impossible, Ribbon. But I highly doubt they did. Even with Kirby’s help.”

“Y-Yeah, but…”

“ _Ohoho. So very shiny. To come all the way up here and find this beauty…it may not be the sacred treasure, but this is an extremely good haul ***chuckle***_.”

“Hey, Daroach. Don’t go running off with that thing. I told you why we need it.” I said to him.

“I’m very aware of it. I’m just admiring it a bit more. The gang will be very impressed with this find, yes?”

“* **Serious grunt*** ”

“Like I said, I’m just admiring it a little. Can’t a thief admire his treasure?”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Honestly…” I said.

Along the way of Ribbon and I looking for the others, we ran into Daroach and Dedede. The former actually found something really important and just out of the blue.

And I mean that literally. Since he told me that it fell from the sky with light-blue fire around it.

This one important item…was the Purple Puyo Soul.

I can’t really say why it fell from the sky or where it was beforehand. But with this, we now have all the Puyo Souls! Which means the puyos should stop raining down Dream Land!

_Now if I could just tell the others this news…_

***BOOM***

***SCREAM OF INTENSE PAIN***

***SCREAMS OF INTENSE FEAR***

“ **Wh-What was that?!** ” Ribbon asked.

“Those voices… **i-it’s the others! They’re in trouble!** ” I yelled.

“It sounds like they came from this way.” Daroach said as he pointed to a wall in front of us.

That’s when Dedede walked up to it and smashed it to smithereens. Clearing a path that showed a bunch of stairs up ahead.

"Thanks, Dedede! Come on, guys!" I yelled as I ran through the rubble.

“A-Adeleine! W-Wait up!” Ribbon yelled as she and the others ran after me.

 

“ **Guys!** ”

“ **A-Adeleine?! Wh-What are you guys doing here?!** ” Arle asked as we reached the top and found everyone there.

"We came looking for you all! Wh-What the heck is happening?!"

“I-It started a little while after we found Ringo’s clone…”

_Wait, Ringo’s clone?! Ugh! Focus, Adeleine! Deal with such a thing later!_

“…When we came up here, Chetta’s cat sensed something around here. We were then kinda-sorta ambushed by these four floating red eyes… **and they just electrocuted Amitie!** ”

“ **H-Huh?!** ”

I looked over to where Arle was pointing to see Amitie laying limp on the ground. Her body burned to a crisp and bleeding a little from her previous injuries.

“ _Poyo…poyo…_ ”

And right beside her…was Kirby. With a sad and worried look on his face as he tried to wake her up.

_Kirby…_

“ **AAAHHH!!!** ” I heard Ringo scream. “ **TH-TH-TH-THEY’RE BACK!!!** ”

I then finally get to see what everyone was talking about. As four really big red eyes came down at us and started spinning in a clockwise direction. For some reason, these eyes looked familiar.

Like I’ve seen them before.

“H-Hey, Adeleine.” Ribbon said to me. “D-Do you think…th-these eyes look familiar?”

“Yeah…they kinda do, Ribbon.”

“D-Do you think it’s…”

“No. I don’t think it’s Zero. That thing’s been dead for years.”

_Th-Then again. I-It did resurrect itself once…_

“ _Meow… **Meow!**_ ”

“Akaineko said they’re still one more eye around here!” Chetta translated her cat.

“One more?” I asked.

And right when I asked that, a storm full of clouds appeared over our heads. And a ball of clouds came out of one of them. The cloud ball dissolved itself until it revealed the fifth and final red eye. Only this one was bigger in size compared to the rest.

As everyone stood in fear, shocked, or both, I was thinking of what could’ve caused this. As I knew what this thing was. It wasn’t Zero, but the eyes were extremely similar. And there was only one other eye monster that I knew all too well.

“N-No way. I-Is that… ** _Kracko?!_** ”

“ **Huh?! Y-You mean THAT’S Kracko?!** ” Ribbon asked me.

“No doubt about it. Although it looks like he got a little make-over.” Daroach said.

“ **W-Wait! Guys! Who the hell is Kracko?!** ” Raffina shouted.

"He's a cloud monster that usually lives in the cloud areas here. He can create storms based on rain, lightning, and can even create tornadoes."

“ **S-Seriously?! S-Such a thing exists here?!** ” Lidelle asked from way over behind a pillar. I also noticed that Ringo was hiding in fear with her. While Ribbon was hiding behind me.

“Yeah, but…Kracko doesn’t normally look like this. What the heck happened to him?” I asked.

“ _I believe **I** can answer that._ ”

“Huh? Wh-What the…”

We then saw someone zip on by and landed in front of Kracko. Turns out, it was Zan. But…like Kracko, she also looked different. Her eyes were completely red and she had a mix of dark red and black hue around her. She was also a bit pale. Unlike her teammates.

“ _Bonjam, everyone. Especially you two. Raina and Cheri._ ” Even her voice was different. It was more distorted than her normal one.

“ ** _*shriek*_** ” Raina hid behind Raffina.

While Ringo’s clone (who apparently is named Cheri now) floated up and said:

“ _Hey, uh…Dan?_ ”

“ ** _It’s Zan! Zan Partizanne! It’s not that hard to remember!_** ”

_It kinda is…_

“ ** _Hmph!_** _Whatever! I just came by to see if you all liked this newest creation of mine._ ”

“Creation? Wait, you mean **_you_** did this to Kracko? So he’s working for you guys now?” I asked.

“ _Hmm…you could say that. It took a bit of work, but it happened. No need to sweat the details. You probably won’t live to learn them all._ ”

“ **Grr…You wanna bet, you demented woman?!** ” Raffina shouted with rage. “ **I’ll beat you down real good for what you did to Amitie!** ”

"R-Raffina! Wait!" I yelled as I held her back with what little force I had. The girl is crazy strong. It's honestly shocking.

“ ** _Baaahahahaha!_** _It’s so funny that you all care for her! But at the same time, it’s also sad and pathetic. You all are placing your worthless little lives at the hands of **THAT** blonde moron of a girl. After **how** many times she nearly died because of her stupidity? You’re all just as idiotic as she is!_

_…_

_“Or…should I saw “was”? Because at this rate, she’ll die for sure of the pain and suffering she’s suffered before. That’s what she gets for believing she stood even the slightest of chances against the Angel of Darkness! **Baaahahahaha!**_ ”

_Th…The Angel of Darkness?! Oh no…_

“ ** _Grr…_** _Why you damn little…_ ” Raffina and Arle were filled with so much rage. But not as much as…

“ **POYO!** ”

“Huh? Kirby?” I asked as we turned to face him.

“ ** _Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo…_ POYO POYO!**”

“K-Kirby…” I was deeply shocked that he was using such violent language. And his face…his angered face…it was so scary to look at. Almost like he was ready to kill someone.

And in this case, it was Zan.

“ _Well, look at you trying to be all cocky. All that smart talk won’t heal your worthless friend. So I suggest you shut it, Star Warrior!_ ” Zan taunted. Then turned to face Kracko.

“ ** _Kracko! Kill them all! Leave none stand! Make them suffer! Baaahahahaha!_** ”

I’m not sure was kind of power Zan gave to him, but Kracko’s multiple red eyes began to glow a black aura as each of them started gathering electricity. He looked more threatening than he ever did before. And I was actually scared for my life.

“ ** _*crying sounds* I don’t wanna die!_** ” Raina yelled in fear.

“ **Th-This is it! It’s game over! WE’RE DONE FOR!!!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Daddy. I’m sorry._ ” Lidelle said through her tears.

“ _Will there be cherries where we’re going?_ ” Cheri asked without a care in the world.

“ **We’re about to die and all you can think about is CHERRIES?!** ” Arle shouted at her.

“ _I like cherries. They’re delicious._ ”

Arle just facepalmed at that response.

As for me, I could barely think or move. I even felt Ribbon clinging onto me in fear of her life. As the other stood in fear. Quietly saying goodbye to their lives.

But…when Kracko fired his attack…

…

I felt nothing.

_H-Huh?_

I open my eyes to see Kirby standing in front of us. Holding his guard stance up as he somehow blocked such a powerful attack! I mean, I know he’s the Legendary Star Warrior and all! But geez! That at least had to hurt!

“ **K-Kirby!** ” I shouted.

“ _Gah! You don’t know when to quit do you, Kirby?! You stubby pink nuisance!_ ” Zan yelled.

“ **Poyo! Poyo poyo poyo!** ”

“ **H-Huh?! St-Stay back?! Wh-What are you…a-are you going to fight them on your own?!** ”

“ **K-Kirby, that’s crazy! Y-You can’t do that!** ” Ribbon yelled from behind me.

“ **Poyo poyo! POYO poyo poyo!** ”

“Y-You’re doing this…f-for Amitie?” I asked.

Kirby didn’t answer. And instead looked away from us. Which was a clear sign of what the answer is.

_W-Wow. H-He really cares for Amitie, huh?_

_…_

_I-I wish…he cared for me like that…_

“ _You’re seriously fighting for that girl?!” Zan asked. “Ha! So pathetic! It almost makes me feel sorry for you, Star Warrior! **Baaahahahaha!**_ ”

“ ** _Poyo…_ POYO!**”

As Kirby continued to stand his ground, something weird happened. He started to rise up above us. And was now floating above us all. We were all amazed by the sight.

But that wasn’t all.

“H-Hey! Wh-What’s going on with this thing?!” Daroach yelled. As something was going on…with the Purple Puyo Soul. It broke out of his grasps and floated towards Kirby. Now currently circling around him.

“ **I-Is that…the Purple Puyo Soul?!** ” Arle asked in total shock.

“ _What the…_ ***BONK*** Ow!”

As I rubbed my head, I looked down on the ground at what just hit me. Turns out…it was Kirby’s phone. And was ringing, too.

“Hello?” I answered it.

“ _A-Adeleine!_ ”

“Magolor? What’s wrong? Why are you screaming?”

“ _I-It’s terrible! Th-Th-The Puyo Souls! Th-Th-They just…d-disappeared!_ ”

“ **Wh-What?! Th-They’re gone?! Wh-Where did they go?!** ”

“ **A-Adeleine! Look!** ” Raffina shouted.

I looked up to see the answer to my question. As the other four Puyo Souls were now joined with the purple one. And were circling around Kirby on their own free will.

“N-No way…”

“ **KIRBY!** ” Ribbon shouted.

As we continued to look at Kirby, the Puyo Souls…they started fusing with him. The red one, the blue one, the green one, the yellow one, and the purple one. All in that order.

Then…he started to change.

And then once that was done, he dropped back down to us. Only…he wasn’t his normal pink color anymore. He was a mix of all the colors of the Puyo Souls. And his galaxy-like eyes were replaced with ones of pure whiteness. He was more jiggly, too.

Almost like a puyo.

“ **K-Kirby?!** ” I yelled.

“ **Holy crap!** ” Raffina yelled.

“ **Wh-What happened to him?!** ” Ribbon yelled.

“ ** _Poyo poyo…Poyo poyo…POYO POYO!!!_** ” Was the only thing that came out of his rainbow-colored mouth.

***TO BE CONTINUED…***


	44. Soul Kirby

**BOSS: Vs.** **Zan Partizanne & Kracko**

 

“ _K-Kirby…_ ” I whispered to myself as I still stood in shock of what had just happened to my friend. The fact that his body was a complete rainbow, his eyes were pure white, and he jiggled like a puyo…it was all mind-blowing to me.

I mean…Kirby’s done some crazy things in the past. But nothing like this!

“ _G-Gah! Th-The Puyo Souls! Wh-What did you do to them?! Now you’re **REALLY** gonna pay, you stubby little pink thing!_ ” Zan yelled as Kracko prepared to do another attack.

“Oh no!” Ringo yelled. “ **Not again!** ”

That’s when Kirby jumped up above us and started glowing a red-colored hue. Then, out of nowhere, a bunch of red puyos appeared next to him. They grew in size a little. And they were also…o-on fire.

“ **Puyo Inferno!** ”

_W-Wait! D-Did he… **Did he just spoke?! W-With actual words?!**_

The flamed puyos then charged themselves at Kracko. Countering each of the electric balls he shot from his five red eyes. Then one of them hit him in the eye. His usual eye, not the other four that he somehow has.

“ _Woah. What was that?_ ” Raina asked.

“S-Some kind of attack…I guess?” Raffina said.

“Some attack?! He used puyos! Like **ACTUAL** puyos! A-And they were on fire!” Arle yelled in a panicked state.

“Unbelievable...” Was all I could say.

As we stood there dumbfounded, Kirby and Kracko continued to fight each other. And this time, Kirby had a blue-colored hue while having a bunch of blue puyos around him. And they were frozen solid with ice.

“ **Puyo Blizzard!** ”

_H-He spoke words again! Wh-When did he learn that?!_

Kirby blasted the iced blue puyos at Kracko. Once again countering his attacks and some actual froze two of the five eyes he has.

“What the heck?” I said.

“Wh-What’s Kirby doing, Adeleine?! H-How does he know those attacks?! A-And how is he speaking words?!” Ribbon spammed me with questions as she was freaking out for her friend/secret crush.

“I-I don’t know, Ribbon! I-I’m just as confused as you are!”

“Hmm…this power…”

“Meow.”

“You’re thinking the same thing aren’t ya, Akaineko?”

“Meow.”

“Wait…Chetta, do you know what’s happening?!” Lidelle asked her.

“Well…it’s a bit of a stretch, but I think what happened is…Kirby unleashed his true power as the Star Warrior.”

“H…His **_true_** power?” I asked.

“Wh-What does that mean?” Arle asked.

“Well…from what I’ve been told by the others, Kirby has saved this universe multiple times But always came close to losing it all. Sure, he’s had help in the form of his friends and end-game-like weapons. But he’s never unlocked his true power. Deeply hidden inside his soul.”

“H-His soul?!” Ringo and Ribbon reacted in a terrified way.

“S-So…wh-what’s happening right now? What exactly happened to Kirby?” I asked.

"From what we all saw, Kirby absorbed the dark power inside the Puyo Souls. Making his own soul bigger and powerful than ever before. This resulted in his true power being unleashed to his body, mind, and soul.

Basically. He became…”

“Soul Kirby.”

We all looked up and saw Meta Knight standing on one of the pillars. He jumped down and joined us on the ground.

“M-Meta Knight? What are you doing here? A-And what do you mean by “Soul Kirby”?” Now I was the one spamming questions.

“Kirby has embraced his inner warrior deep inside his soul. And with that, plus the added power from the Puyo Souls, he has created the ultimate Copy Ability: The Soul Ability.”

“Th…The Soul Ability?” We all repeated.

“Kirby has mastered countless abilities in the past. But they’re all useless without an “end-game-like weapon”, as Chetta described it. But with the Soul Ability, Kirby **IS** the end-game weapon. Harboring the power to control all puyos and their souls. And even changing their attributes.”

“H-Holy crap…” Raffina said.

“The ability to control puyos…and their souls…” Arle said.

“What happened in our past adventures is **nothing** compared to this.” Ringo said.

“I knew Kirby was powerful, but to this extent…” Lidelle said.

“ _Hehhehheh…_ yeah, I guess I misread the legend a little bit.” Chetta said while rubbing the back of her head.

“ _A little?_ ” The previous girls retorted.

“So, uh…any idea what caused this?” Daroach asked.

“It has something to do with the heart. Although, I’m not sure about the details.” Meta Knight explained.

“Th-The heart…” I whispered to myself.

_S-So it’s true. Kirby really does care for Amitie. He’s doing this…fighting a mutated Kracko and a demented Zan with the rarest and strongest ability known to all kind…just to save Amitie._

_So why…_

_…_

_Why does it hurt so much?_

“ **Adeleine! Look out!** ”

“H-Huh?” I regained my thoughts as I turned around and saw multiple electroballs heading towards me.

“ ** _Wha…WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!_** ”

***BOOM***

…

…

“ _H…Huh?_ ” I slowly opened my eyes.

“Poyo!”

“K-Kirby?! Wh-What is that?!”

Kirby had in his hand a rainbow blob-like sword with a flame of the same color. Like his whole body, it reminded me of a puyo. Perhaps…this is part of the Soul Ability?

“ ** _Gaaah! This is really getting old, Pinky! I’ve had it with you!_** ” Zan shouted. She then brought out these drums that create electricity (I’m not sure how it works. It just does) and it started creating more electroballs.

“ ** _Time to die! ALL of you!_** **_Baaahahahaha!_** ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“ **Adeleine! Get out the way!** ”

“H-Huh?” I was basically lost in my own thoughts as Raffina dragged me to the side.

“Geez! What’s wrong with you, girl? You’re usually more focused than this.”

“Uh…”

***BOOM***

We watched as Kirby blocked off all the attacks the two lighting makers fired at him. I can tell that both Zan and Kracko were weak at this point. But Kirby…he was still fired up.

And to prove it, that sword he had…it grew in size. Almost as big as the Ultra Sword. And the flames grew extra ripe, too.

He sliced the duo with the sword. And then again. And again. For a total of 9 times. And it looked like he was about to do one more. But before he did so, the sword grew once more. And the flames could burn this place down with no effort whatsoever.

And as he prepared to swing…

“ **Rainbow Puyo Slash!** ”

***DEEP SLICE SOUND***

Both Zan and Kracko were slammed right down to the ground. Both looking unconscious as the smoke finally cleared out. And it looked like…

…They were reverting to normal.

 

“ _Po…yo._ ” Kirby had also reverted back to normal. As he fell back to the ground and landed on his two pink feet.

_Kirby…_

“ ** _Kirby! That! Was! Awesome!_** ” Raina shouted.

“Wow, Kirby! I didn’t think you had that much power! Might even be more powerful than Satan!” Arle cheered.

“ _Hey…_ ” Lidelle took offense to that.

“That was really cool. Wasn’t it, Cheri?” Ringo asked her.

…

…

“Cheri?”

…

…

“ **Cheri!** ”

“ _Huh? What were we doing?_ ”

“ **You mean you weren’t paying attention?!** ”

“ _Did we die yet?_ ”

“ **No, we didn’t die!** ”

“ _Oh._ ”

_Really? That’s all she could say?_

“ ** _*sigh*_** Cheri, I swear. You are something else.” Ringo said with a facepalm.

“ ** _*moan*_** _Wh-What the…wh-what happened?_ ”

“Aw, great. Don’t tell me you’re asking for more.” Raffina said.

“H-Huh? Wh-What are you all doing here?” Zan asked as she regained consciousness.

“We really should be asking you, Zan. Appearing out here and attacking us with Kracko.” I said.

“Kracko? Why would I team up with him? He’s just a cloud with an eye. Something like that couldn’t possibly be good enough to work with me. Baaahahahaha!”

As Zan continued to gloat, Kracko eventually regained consciousness. All five of his eyes were back to their normal blue color. And was pretty upset at what he just heard.

Yes, he can hear. I don’t know how, but he can.

***ZAP***

“Ow! Wh-What the…”

"W-Wow. He looks really angry." Chetta said.

***ZAP***

***ZAP***

***ZAP***

***ZAP***

***ZAP***

“ **Ow! Why are you attacking me, you multiple eyeballed freak?!** ” Zan yelled some more.

“Should you really be saying that?” Daroach asked.

Kracko's eyes began conducting electricity as they were all staring at Zan with full-out rage.

“Tch! J…Jamblasted.”

“Kracko! Wait!” I yelled as Kirby and I jumped in front of Zan. “I know you’re angry right now for whatever Zan did to you, but we need her alive! The entire universe is at stake!”

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

…

Soon Kracko stopped making electricity and calmed down a bit from all five eyes.

_W-Wow. H-He actually understood. Though, I don’t want to take the chance._

“L-Lidelle. A-A little help.”

“I got it, Adeleine.” Lidelle said as she walked up to Kracko. From what we then saw, she was able to understand him based on the electric sparks he made from his main eye.

_It’s still amazing how she can understand everything._

“He’s asking why he shouldn’t fry Zan right this minute for mind-controlling him like that.”

“Mind-control?” We all asked.

“Hey, don’t look at me! I didn’t even know he was here until he tried to kill me not too long ago!” Zan yelled.

“How do we know this isn’t a trick?” Ringo asked.

“Like I said, I didn’t even know Kracko was here. And you people didn’t even answer my question from before. And yet, you’re interrogating me? Some manners you have.”

“ ** _Manner?!_** ” Raffina shouted. “If you want to talk “manners”, then let’s talk about how you and that Dark Red Amitie psycho made evil clones of us!”

“ _Hey…_ ” Raina and Cheri felt insulted.

“Dark Red Amitie… ** _Ah!_** **_My head!_** _For some reason just by hearing that girl’s name makes me feel extreme pain!_ ”

“Huh?” We all asked.

“Hey! Everyone!”

We looked up and saw the Lor Starcutter landing near us. And out came Magolor, Lemres, and Misuki.

"We still can't find the Puyo Souls! They're just gone!" Magolor yelled.

“Th-They’re not gone, Magolor.” Ribbon said. “Kirby absorbed them all.”

“Huh?” Both him and Lemres were confused.

“We’ll explain later.” Ringo said.

“Poyo! Poyo!”

“Huh?! H-Hey, Ami! A-Are you alright?! Ami!” Misuki shouted once she saw Amitie still laying on the ground.

“Sh-She’s out cold.” Arle said.

“I’m bringing her on the ship! Help me lift her, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

As we watched Kirby and Misuki started picking up the unconscious bleeding Amitie, I started feeling that same mood from when Kirby transformed. And I dropped my head a little.

“Adeleine? What’s wrong?” Raffina asked me.

“Uh…”

_Well…they are from the same world. I could try and ask her._

“H-Hey, Raffina. J-Just how special is Amitie, really?”

“Huh? Where’s this coming from?”

“It’s…just something on my mind.”

…

“Well…to be honest, I never liked her at first.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. In fact, I actually hated her.”

“H-Hated? What did she do for you to hate her?”

…

“Well, to be honest…nothing.”

“You’re starting to confuse me, Raffina.”

“L-Look. At first, I found her to be an annoying loudmouth of a girl who can’t do anything right. But…as I got to know her more, I…started to like her. We even have a few things in common.”

“Like?”

“Well for one, our mothers are a pain to deal with.”

“Why? Are they abusive?”

“No. They just tease us a lot.”

“Your own mother teases you?”

“L-Look, never mind that. Why did you ask that anyway?”

I went dead silent once she asked that.

“Adeleine?”

“W-Well…y-you know how Kirby was fighting to save Amitie’s life? A-And when he transformed, it may have something to do with his heart?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well…I feel like it happened because…Kirby really cares for Amitie. So much so that I…started feeling kinda jealous.”

“Jealous?” It didn’t take Raffina long to figure it out. And she grew a huge look of shock on her face.

“Oh. My. God. Adeleine! Do you li-”

“ **SHHHH!!!** ” I panicked while covering her mouth. “I don’t want anyone to know this. Especially not Ribbon. But yes…it’s true.”

“And let me guess. You never want to tell him?”

“Not now. Not ever. So, can you keep a secret?”

“Sure, Adeleine. I can keep your feelings a secret.” Raffina said with a light giggle.

“ _Hey…_ ”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Uh… _guys._ ”

“What’s up, Arle?” I asked.

"You look rather frightened." Raffina said.

“W-Well…M-Magolor just told us that he picked someone up before coming up here and…i-it’s best if you saw it yourselves.”

"Uh…okay." We really didn't understand where Arle was getting at or why she was freaking out so much. But we ultimately agreed to her request. And followed her inside the ship. Where we saw two people laying on the beds in the back.

One was Amitie. All bruised up from the surprise attack done to her.

The other…was in worse shape than her. Deep cuts and bloody bruises. This person looked like she suffered a lot.

I say “she” because this was…

“A… **Amitwo?!** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kirby has absorbed the powers and lifeforces of the Puyo Souls. And has unlocked the most powerful ability in the universe: the Soul Ability. With this, Kirby can control the puyos and change how they attack. So in a way, it’s like Amitie has the Copy Abilities and Kirby has Puyo Manipulation. Like a trade-off.
> 
> So that just leaves the aftermath. Why was Kracko mind-controlled by Zan? Why does Zan not remember doing such a thing and has migraines every time she’s reminded of Dark Red Amitie? And lastly, what happened to Dark Red Amitie to make her have those injuries?
> 
> Why am I asking you all these questions when I already know the answers to all of them?  
> …  
> I dunno.
> 
> *SPECIAL NOTE*   
> I would just like to point out that this story is near 8k views on Fanfiction, and has just recently passed 1k hits on AO3. The latter just blew me in shock. This is no doubt my most popular story on BOTH sites and I CANNOT believe it’s actually true. I can’t possibly thank you guys enough for reading this story or really any of my stories. It makes me happy that this many people actually enjoy the crazy stuff that comes out of my head. And I do hope you continue to read on. Later.


	45. True Enemies & Ultimate Choices

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

“ _Uhh…my head. My back. My…everything._ ”

I woke up on one of the beds on the ship in excruciating pain. My head is pounding and my body is aching. And worse of all, my memory is all blank. So I don’t even remember how I ended up this way.

“A-Amitie!”

“Poyo!”

“ _Huh? Arle? Kirby? Wh-What happened to me- **OUCHIE! OUCHIE, OUCHIE, OUCHIE!!!**_ ”

“H-Hey! Easy there! You’re still recovering!”

“Poyo poyo!”

“ _Ow…_ what happened to me? Why am I in so much pain?” I asked while helped up by Arle and Kirby.

“Do you…not remember?”

“No, not at all. It’s all a blur.”

“All of it?”

“ _Well…_ ” I started thinking about it. “I remember meeting Cheri. But after that… **Ahhh! My head!** ”

“Hey, don’t push yourself.” Arle said. I then saw Kirby nudge on her shoulder and then pointing behind me.

“Aw, crap. It’s time.”

“Huh? Time for what?” I asked.

“Uh…” Arle looked really nervous. But then sighed a big one and placed her hands on my shoulders.

“L-Look, Amitie. Y-You’re not the only person who got hurt earlier.”

“Huh?! Wh-Who is it?! Raffina?! Ringo?! Lidelle?! Misuki?!”

“W-Well…close. You do know her.”

“Her? Is it Chetta?”

“N-No…”

“Adeleine? Ribbon?”

“Poyo…” Kirby said no.

“I…don’t get it.”

“ _Aw, geez. Will you two just stop sugarcoating it already?_ ”

_Th-That voice…i-it can’t be…_

I turned around behind me and saw the absolute **LAST** person I ever thought would be in the same room with me.

“ ** _WAAAAAAA!!! WH-WHY IS AMITWO HERE?!_** ” I shouted in a mix of fear and anger.

“ _You know…I would get angry at you for calling me Amitwo again, but I just don’t have the energy to do so. Ouchie…_ ”

“Don’t have the energy?” As I asked that question, I took a look at my clone. She had a bunch of deep cuts and bloody bruises all over her body. She also looked a bit malnourished. And her dark red hue was near gone.

“Now that I look at you, what happened to you?” I asked.

“ _Hmph. Like you care._ ”

“What do you mean? I do care. I mean, you are me.”

“ _Do you really? After the Light Soul has done to me for all these years? How I've been sealed inside a damn hat while you went on living scot-free? Is **that** how you care?_ ”

“Look, can we just put this Light & Dark Soul thing behind us for just a few minutes? I get that you’re an evil soul bent on destruction. But at the same time, you are me. And seeing my own body like this isn’t something I could just push aside just because of this stupid Legend. So can you just tell me? Please?”

Amitwo went silent as she sunk her head down in angst. She then pushed herself up and weakly floated over to me. Collapsing on the edge of the bed.

“ _F-Fine. I-I’ll tell you. B-But…everyone needs to know what I’m about to say. Both Dream Land…a-and Primp Town…are in mortal danger._ ”

“Dream Land… **AND** Primp Town?!” Arle asked.

“Kirby. Go and let the others know. Tell them that something crazy is about to happen.”

“Poyo!” Kirby said before running out the room.

“Alright. Just hang on to me- **GAH!** ” I tried hoisting Amitwo onto my shoulder. But my body was still hurting. And the intense pain made us both fall to the ground.

“A-Amitie. Why did you think that would work?” Arle asked.

“ _J-Just shut it and help us up._ ” Both me and my clone said as we winced in pain from our injuries.

 

Once we (eventually) got off the floor, we met up with the others who were waiting for this “crazy thing” that Kirby told them about. But when I appeared with Amitwo, some got a little worried.

“H-Hey, Ami. A-Are you sure this is a good idea?” Misuki asked me.

“Don’t worry. It’s all good.”

“Really?” Schezo asked. “After all this mental nutjob’s done to this place and us?”

“That’s a bit much…”

“ _Look, I get it._ ” Amitwo said. “ _You all shouldn’t and don’t need a reason to trust me. Especially with all the stuff I’ve done in the past. But what I’m about to confess is a huge matter of life and death. Not just for Dream Land, but for Primp Town as well. So if you still don’t believe me after all that, then there’s nothing I can do about it. All I ask is that you just hear me out on this. You might do a better job at this than I did._ ”

_A better job? What does she mean by that? What truly happened to her?_

“Guys, I think we should listen to her.” Adeleine said.

“Huh? Really?” Raffina asked.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea on what happened, but I want to hear her version just to make sure.”

“This better explain why I can’t remember anything for the past few days.” Zan (who apparently was here and was reunited with Francisca and Flamberge) added in a threatening way.

“ _Tch. Like you’re the only one suffering._ ” I heard Amitwo say next to me.

“Hey. Focus.” I said.

“ _Alright, fine._ ” Amitwo then sighed a bit before starting her story.

“ _I’m not sure when exactly this started, but I know it did sometime after I cloned you guys. I remember trying to figure out a way to destroy you all. Then…then this thing…it came out of nowhere and…tried to…soul…_ ”

“Soul?” We all asked.

“ _…I-It’s tried to…take the Purple Puyo Soul._ ”

“The Purple Puyo Soul?!” I yelled.

“I see. So that’s where it came from. You had it this whole time.” Meta Knight said.

“ _Y-Yeah. I did. It was surprisingly easy to find. And I kept it to myself to gain more power. But apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wanted it._ ”

“Not the only one?” Lemres asked.

“Is there another psycho clone out there?” Maguro asked.

“ _N-Not a clone. S-Some kind of…angel._ ”

“An angel?” Arle asked.

“ _This giant red and white angel…attacked me out of nowhere. I didn’t stand a chance. It cut and bruised me. Left me bleeding to death. While it tried to take the Puyo Soul._

 _That’s when…I sent the Puyo Soul…out of there. A-And tried to send it to you guys. I was able to do it…before the angel and its servants…continued to attack me. And that’s all I remember._ ”

“Damn. That’s rough.” Raffina said.

“ _And seeing how you all are still alive, I’m guessing you found it._ ”

“Yes. we did.” Daroach said. “But then Kirby ended up absorbing it and the other Puyo Souls to use their power.”

“ _H-Huh?!_ ”

“H-Huh?!” Both of us Amities reacted in shock.

“We’ll explain later.” Adeleine said. “But more importantly…I believe you, Amitwo.”

“ _Y-You do?_ ”

“Yes. Mainly because I know what that angel is.”

“A-Adeleine. S-So it really is **_THAT_** angel?” Ribbon asked in fear.

“Unfortunately, Ribbon…it is.” Adeleine then took a quick sigh of stress before going on.

“It’s Zero. It’s back.” Those of us who aren’t residents of Dream Land were ultimately confused.

“Zero? You mean that giant bloody eye that created Dark Matter?” Marx asked.

“When did it become an angel?” Taranza asked.

“Sometime after Kirby beat it the first time. When it returned a second time, it tried to consume Ripple Star into the darkness that is Dark Matter. That’s when Ribbon came crashing down to Popstar. And with her, me, Kirby, Dedede, and a Waddle-Dee teamed up to defeat it the second time.”

“ _That brave Waddle-Dee. Gone, but not forgotten._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board. With Dedede nodding to the written statement.

“So Zero has returned, huh?” Susie asked. “I’ve heard stories of what that thing did. Unleashing its Dark Matter clones to invade and infest multiple planets at once. Sending them all to an apocalyptic demise. All for reasons unknown.”

“Sounds a lot worse than whatever that Void thing tried to do.” Francisca said.

“Such a thing returning out of the blue…this truly is a nightmare.” Magolor added.

“ _And from the sound of it, Primp Town’s in danger too._ ” Raina said.

“Wasn’t it sent deep in the depths of hell the last time it was defeated? How did it get out?” Zan asked.

…

…

“Aw, crap.” That’s when Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Misuki, and I figured it out. And it was a pretty simple mistake, too.

“H-Hey, guys. Wh-Where’s Lidelle?” I asked.

“She and Chetta are still outside talking to Kracko.” Ribbon said.

“Still?” Arle asked.

“They seem to be hitting it off.” Daroach said.

“Uh, guys. Who’s Kracko?” I asked.

“I’ll show you.” Adeleine said.

 

Once the previously named five of us (along with Kirby, Adeleine, Ribbon, Bandanna-Dee, and Amitwo) were outside the ship, we saw Lidelle and Chetta casually having a conversation with…five blue eyeballs?

_What the heck happened when I was knocked out?_

"W-Wow, you're that old? That's amazing!" Chetta said. With an added meow from Akaineko.

The eyeball in the middle started sparking electricity. And apparently, the two girls seemed to understand that.

“You know. I may look very young, but I’m actually not that far off from your age, Kracko.” Lidelle said.

“W-Wait, what? L-Lidelle, how old **ARE** you?” Chetta asked.

“Hmm…can’t really tell you. Just know that it’s a four-digit number.”

**_F-Four digits?!_ **

“I-I see…” Both Chetta and the eye had a sweatdrop moment.

“ **Lidelle!** ” We all shouted.

“Huh? Oh hello, Amitie.

…

Wh-What’s Amitwo doing here?” Lidelle asked.

“ _Seriously, can we stop calling me that?_ ” Amitwo asked.

“Later.” I said. Then faced Lidelle again. “Lidelle! We’re in serious danger! Both of our worlds are in danger!”

“Both worlds? What are you talking about?”

“Lidelle. A fallen angel by the name of Zero has come back and is planning to destroy both Dream Land and Primp Town by consuming them both in darkness.” Adeleine explained.

“A fallen angel? Those things are usually way deep inside the depths of hell. How did on get out?”

“We think you know, Lidelle.” Ringo said.

“I do?” Lidelle thought about it for a second. Then her face lit up in regret when she figured it out. “ **Oh no!** ”

“What?” Chetta asked.

“ **This Zero guy! It must’ve escaped when I was fighting Ridel! It’s my fault that this is happening! I’ve doomed us all!** ”

“ **Lidelle, listen!** ” Raffina yelled. “Look, no one saw this coming. It’s not your fault. We just need to stop this fallen angel before it consumes both our worlds.”

“We can do this! I know we can!”

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered with me.

“So where do we start?” Arle asked.

“First off, we need to go to my home planet Ripple Star.” Ribbon said with a lot more determination than when I first met her. “I’m pretty sure Zero will go after the Crystal again. I need to warn the Queen and the others.”

“That’s like to be our best place to start.” Adeleine said.

“Great!” I cheered. “Then let’s get-”

***BOOM***

“ **Gah! Wh-What was that?!** ”

“B-Bad news, everyone.” Magolor said as he joined us outside. “The Lor Starcutter blew a few gears from all the electricity still flowing through the clouds. It’ll take a while to fix.”

“Fiddlesticks. Now what?”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“Huh? You got an idea, Kirby?”

“Poyo!”

“ _How can you understand him?_ ” Amitwo asked me.

“What? You can’t You’re the one who gave me this power.”

“ _I did? Odd._ ”

Kirby then rushed up to the edge of the clouds and began whistling a bunch of times. Then soon, a big breeze of wind came past us. And whatever it was, it came down in front of Kirby.

**_*screeching bird noise*_ **

“ **Ah! Giant rainbow bird!** ” Ringo shouted.

“ **D-Dyna Blade?! K-Kirby, are you sure?!** ” Adeleine asked him.

“Poyo!”

**_*screeching bird noise*_ **

“She said she really doesn’t mind. As long as it isn’t meant to cause trouble.” Lidelle translated.

“ _How does she do that?_ ” Amitwo asked.

“Nobody knows.” The rest of us said.

“W-Well…thank you for the help, Dyna Blade. I really owe you big.” Ribbon said.

Dyna Blade responded with a simple nod this time.

“ _Y…You guys go on ahead. I-I’m still…weak from the…s-surprise attack._ ” Amitwo said.

“Will you really be okay?” I asked.

“Not to worry, Amitie. She’ll be taken care of.” Magolor said.

“Just don’t go and betray us while we’re gone!” Raffina yelled.

“ _Tch. A-As if. I-I want that…Zero jerk to pay. L-Let it feel the pain it…i-it gave to me. A-And if it means…surrendering to the Light Soul, then I don’t…give a damn anymore._ ”

“ ** _*snicker*_** I feel the same way.” I said.

And with that said, it was me, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina for the safety of Primp. And Kirby, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Bandanna-Dee for the safety of Dream Land. Our two groups climbed onto Dyna Blade’s back and the giant rainbow bird flew up into the sky. Flapping her large wings as we made our way to Ribbon’s home planet of Ripple Star.

_Watch yourself, Zero! The Light Soul is back! And I’m coming…_

_…_

**_Right back at ya!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now believing what Dark Red Amitie had told them, Amitie, Kirby, and the gang prepare to fight against Zero, The Fallen Angel of Darkness. The final battle is near. And so is the destruction of two separate worlds.
> 
> Since this feels like a good time, I’m to reveal everything that was scrapped in this story.
> 
> First off, Characters:  
> Rulue – Was ultimately replaced with Chetta  
> Satan – Was actually going to appear in Dream Land (more specifically Ripple Star). But was made as a cameo.  
> Ms. Accord – Same as Satan, but no plans for a cameo.  
> Ecolo – Was going to be a boss. But was scrapped. May be turned into a cameo.  
> Prince Fluff – Just couldn’t make him work.  
> Shadow Kirby – Same as Prince Fluff.
> 
> Next, Areas:  
> Sky Sands – Explained in chapter 33.  
> Old Odyssey (specifically Stage 4) – My favorite stage in Triple Deluxe, but couldn’t make it work.  
> Patch Land – This one was an odd choice. I just placed in the planning sheet without thinking about how I would write it. It never came to mind after it was placed there.  
> Candy Constellation – No longer necessary for where this story is going.
> 
> And finally, Bosses:  
> Ecolo – Already explained.  
> Dyna Blade – Was going to be the one being controlled by the Red Puyo Soul. But was replaced with Dedede. Though I didn’t want to scrap her completely.  
> Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright – These two were going to be a random encounter boss on Butter Building.  
> Sig – Yes. You're reading it right. Sig was going to be a boss. Specifically Black Sig. Turns out he has a beta design that resembles Strange Klug a lot more. Making the connection between Sig and Strange Klug bigger than it already was at the time. I wanted to use it. But decided against it.
> 
> That’s it for scrapped concepts. And this story for a while. I’ve updated this one three in a row and like I said, it tires me out from making it as accurate as possible. But it’ll be back soon. And when it does, the fight for double universal peace begins. Thank you guys for reading. Later.


	46. The Ripple Star Massacre

As the eight of us continued to ride on Dyna Blade’s back, seemingly hanging on as hard as we could as she flew really fast in the middle of space, we passed by a couple other planets that resonate with this world. And Adeleine was explaining them all to us visitors.

There was one called Rock Star, a desert planet mostly made up of rocks and sand.

Aqua Star, a mostly wet planet with small tropical islands and sandy beaches.

Neo Star, a jungle planet largely untouched by civilization.

We eventually passed by Shiver Star again. Adeleine didn’t want to talk about it. And for a good reason, too.

And then in the near distance was another planet. A heart-shaped one with a cute little face on it. It had three smaller hearts, two on top and one on the bottom, and its rings are two yellow bows. It was definitely the cutest planet I’ve ever seen.

“There it is, everyone. That’s Ripple Star.” Adeleine said.

“Woah! It’s so cute-looking!” I said.

“Looks like something you would draw during class, Amitie.” Raffina said.

“H-Hey!”

“Is this really Ribbon’s home planet?” Ringo asked.

“It sure is.” Adeleine said. “It’s home to lots of fairies like Ribbon.”

“I do hope everyone’s okay. The Queen especially. If she’s gone, then the planet is doomed.” Ribbon looked extremely worried. As she should be. Some fallen angel is about to attack her home for the **SECOND** time. She must be reliving a nightmare right now.

“Ribbon, don’t worry. All of us are here with you. We won’t let Zero consume Ripple Star into darkness again. We beat it last time and we’ll do it again.”

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered. While Bandanna-Dee nodded with confidence.

“Adeleine…”

“Yeah!” I cheered. “And you’ve got us, too! We’ll help in any way we can! Right, guys?!”

“Right!” Arle, Ringo, and Raffina cheered with me.

“E-Everyone…” Ribbon went silent for a bit. Then grew a smile on her face as she gained enough confidence to rid her worries away.

“ ** _*giggle*_** I’m counting on you guys!”

“Likewise, Ribbon!” Adeleine said while giving her best friend a hug.

“Poyo…poyo poyo!”

**_*screeching bird noise*_ **

Dyna Blade flew even faster as we were about to land on Ribbon's home planet. In hopes of saving it from a future in eternal darkness.

 

**World of Fairies – Ripple Star**

 

We soon entered the planet’s atmosphere. And I gotta say…

…

**THIS IS THE CUTEST PLACE I’VE EVER BEEN TO!!!**

Everything's all colorful and pretty! The ground! The flowers! The sky! There are so many rainbows! And the fountains here spew out bubble hearts and bubble musical notes! It's all so pretty! Cute! Adorable, even!

“ _Hahahaha…I never want to leave this place._ ”

“Looks like Am’s girling out over this place.” Ringo said.

"It's to be expected. She's the girliest person I know." Raffina said.

“ _So…cutie…_ ”

“Hey. Earth to Amitie…” Arle said as she waved her hand in my face.

Let’s just say that it took me a while to get used to it all.

We each stepped off of Dyna Blade and followed Ribbon around the area. Despite the place being so cute, Ripple Star was completely deserted. And it was starting to scare Ribbon a bit.

“ _Ooh…where is everyone? Did they get my message in time?_ ”

“Message?” Adeleine asked.

“I sent a message beforehand warning everyone of Zero’s return. I didn’t get a response back. And now seeing this place deserted like this…”

“ **Ribbon!** ”

We then saw what looked like a fairy flying towards us in a fit of panic. There were a few minor details (her hair being purple and wearing a blue dress of sorts). But besides those things, she looked a lot like Ribbon.

“ **Ah! Celeste!** ”

And there’s also that.

“Wh-Where is everyone?” Ribbon asked.

"Not to worry. We received your message in time. Her Majesty is in a safe location."

“ ** _*sigh*_** That’s good to hear.” That news seemed to easy Ribbon’s worries a bit.

“Which begs me to ask…has Zero really returned?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We came here to make sure the Crystal is protected as well. No doubt it’ll try to destroy it again.”

“I see. Well…I must thank you, Star Warrior. Coming all this way to save our home once more. I can honestly see how Ribbon has these special feelings for yo-”

“ **C-Celeste!** ” Ribbon yelled with a mild blush on her face.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Alright, I’ll stop.”

“Poyo poyo poyo?”

“Eh…don’t worry about it, Kirby.” I said to him.

 “Oh? And are these the “other-worlders” you mentioned about?”

“Yes. They are.” Ribbon said.

“They’ve helped us greatly throughout their time here. They’ll be a great help, trust us.” Adeleine added.

“I see. Well, I thank you four in advance. Our majesty, and the entirety of Ripple Star, is in your debt.”

“Not a problem. We’ll all happy to help.” I said. With the other three agreeing with me.

“So, is the Crystal safe as well, Celeste?” Ribbon asked.

“Yes. It should be. We kept it on heavy guard while we made sure her majesty was safe. It should be well protected by our-”

***BOOM***

“ **Wah! Wh-What was that?!** ” Ringo asked. Scared out of her mind.

“ _It came from that building over there._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Th-That’s the castle! It’s where the Crystal is being held!” Celeste yelled in a panic.

“Oh no! Quick! We must get there at once!” Ribbon yelled as both fairies flew off ahead.

“H-Hey! Ribbon!” Adeleine yelled. “ ** _*sigh*_** Geez. She’s in such a panic that she forgot about us. It’s a good thing I know how to get there. Just follow me, everyone.”

“Alright. Lead the way, Adeleine.” Raffina said.

“ _Wowie-wow-wow. I get to see more of this cute and pretty world. Hahahaha…_ ”

…

…

“Amitie…please come back to us.” Arle said to me while the others were mildly disturbed by my current mood right now.

 

We followed Adeleine to the castle where we caught up to Ribbon and her friend. Inside, though…was a complete wreck. The castle was almost destroyed beyond repair. It was still standing, but the roof was completely non-existent.

There were also a bunch of other fairies that were either knocked out from the castle debris or suffered some real intense injuries.

Most were not breathing.

“W-Woah. Wh-What happened here?” I asked in shock as we looked around the damaged castle.

“ _R-Run…_ ”

“Oh no! Maria!” Ribbon shouted as she flew up to one of her friends that was buried beneath the rubble. “Maria! What happened?! Are you okay?!”

“ _R-Ribbon…r-run. Save your…self._ ”

“R-Run?! Wh-Why?! Maria, what happened?!”

“ _Th-The Crystal…Zero…_ ”

“It sounds like we’re too late.” Ringo said.

“ _R-Ribbon…C-Celeste…pl-please run. S-Save yourselves…_ ” That was the last thing the fairy named Maria said before closing her eyes and collapsing her head on the floor.

“ **Maria!** ”

Raffina walked up to the down fairy and checked for a pulse. It took her a while to give us an answer. And I had a bad feeling on what it was.

“ _R-Ribbon…sh-she’s dead._ ”

“ **Nooooooooooo!!!!** ” Ribbon shouted. Her heart shattered after realizing that she had just watched her friend die right in front of her.

“Ribbon! I really do think we should get out of-”

“ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** ”

“ _Wh-What was that?_ ” Ribbon’s other friend Celeste asked in fear.

“ _Oh. More fairies. Guessed I missed some._ ”

“ _Wh-Who-_ ”

***SLAM***

“ **Celeste!** ” Ribbon shouted.

Out of nowhere, a giant stone slab came by and slammed Celeste so hard it flew her to the nearby wall. She fell to the floor where blood started pouring from her head.

“ _O…O-Ow…_ ”

“ **Celeste! Hold on, I’m coming!** ”

As Ribbon flew over to her injured friend, the rest of us noticed something. The remaining rubble that wasn’t crushing a fairy were starting to float up in the air. And they were floating above Ribbon and her friend.

“ _R-Ribbon…pl-please. You must flee._ ”

“ **Celeste, no! I already lost Maria and I’m going to lose you too!** ”

“ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** _Fine by me. It’s killing two fairies with one…oops. I mean **multiple** stones. ***creepy demented giggle***_ ”

“ _H-Huh?! Wh-Who said…_ ”

“ **Poyo!** ”

“ **Ribbon, look out!** ”

Kirby and I rushed over grabbed Ribbon before the rubble came crashing down.

Unfortunately…we couldn’t save her friend.

“ **Celeste!** ” Ribbon screamed in horror as she watched yet another friend die right in front of her.

“ _Aw, shucks. Looks like I missed. Oh, well._ ”

“ ** _Grr…_ WHO THE HELL KEEPS TALKING LIKE THAT?!**” Raffina shouted with rage.

“ _Ooh. I made poor Raffi mad. I always liked the feisty ones. ***creepy demented giggle***_ ”

“W-Wait…guys. Th-That voice…” I said.

“ _Now that I hear it more clearly, it sounds an awful lot like Arle’s._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“A-A creepy voice that’s similar to mine? D-Does that mean…”

Before Arle could finish her question, a black shadow started appearing right in front of us. The shadow started forming into a humanoid body of a girl. And a creepy smile appeared as it was all happening.

The shadowy girl had finished forming. And it appeared to be wearing a black & grey tie-dye t-shirt, worn-out light-grey jean shorts, and black & white boots similar to Arle's white & blue ones.

And speaking of which, the shadow looked a lot like her. Some minor differences were the fact her hair was let down and…somewhat of a brownish color. And the color black…it was all over her. Her clothes, the marks on her body, her eyes. There was even a small black feather in her hair. It wa so hard to believe that I was looking at another Arle.

B-But I was.

And I didn’t like it.

“ _A-Arle. Th-This girl…_ ”

“ _I-It’s…the clone from Shiver Star._ ” Ringo and I were so afraid right now. As this clone…felt **WAY** different from the rest. In a bad way.

“ _Oh? So these are the two? The Legendary Star Warrior and The Light Soul. ***giggle***  I’ve heard so much about you two. It’s an honor to meet you…_”

Arle’s clone then disappeared from in front of us without any warning.

“H-Huh?!” Ringo began to panic. “Wh-Where’d she-”

“ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** ”

She then reappeared in between us. Scaring us completely. Then wrapped herself around Arle and got close to her face.

“ _…But my interest is only with this little kitten right here. ***giggle***_ ”

“ _Th-This little…k-kitten? Wh-What do you mean with that?_ ” Arle started blushing as she was really close with her clone.

“ _Come, on._ ” The clone said as she started face caressing the original’s cheeks. “ _Don’t tell me you’re still denying it, my little kitten. You can’t hide it for long._ ”

“ _H-Hide what?_ ”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Oh…you know._ ” The clone then did something that was really unthinkable in my eyes. She wrapped her arms around Arle’s neck and…k-k-kissed her! O-O-On the lips! W-With no hesitation at all!

**_Wh-What the hell is going on?!_ **

The clone then teleported away and reappeared back in front of all of us. Snickering and giggling at what she just did.

“ _Delicious._ ”

“Wh-Whoa…” Adeleine said.

“Wh-What the hell?” Raffina asked.

“What…was…that?” Ringo asked. She was more shocked than any of us combined.

Arle, on the other hand, was dead silent. Her face was so red that you couldn’t even tell that it was her. And she wouldn’t look at any of us. Not even her clone.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Someone’s shy._ ” The clone said.

“J-Just what are you?! Why did you do such a thing?!” I yelled.

“ _Oh, dear. I completely forgot. I must complete my mission._ ”

“Your mission?”

“H-Hold on…are you saying… **YOU** did all this damage?!” Adeleine asked.

“ _Fufufufufu...guilty as charged._ ”

“ _Wh…wh…wh…_ **WHY?!** ” Ribbon screamed. Her eyes wear filled with tears of a mix of sadness, fear, and anger. “ **WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?! YOU KILLED ALL OF MY FRIENDS!!!** ”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _I know, right? A special request given to me. By the future ruler of dimensions. The Fallen Angel of Darkness. My master._ ”

“The Fallen Angel of Darkness…you mean Zero told you to do this?!” I asked.

“ _Right you are, Light Soul. I am now a proud servant of the all-mighty Zero. My master commanded me to come to this planet. And rid it of its residents. As they were a nuisance to its plans all those years ago._ ”

“A-And the Crystal?” Adeleine asked.

“ _Destroyed that, too. As it **was** my master’s only weakness._ ”

“­ _A-And her majesty? Wh-Where is she?_ ” Ribbon asked.

“ _That old hag? She was the first to go. None stood a chance against the mixed powers of a soul and a fallen angel. They realized such. And surrendered their lives to my master._ _Fufufufufu._ ”

“ _N-No. I-It can’t be…_ " Ribbon then started to fly up from the ground. Still weak from the truth she heard and the double-murder she had just witnessed.

“ _Y-You’ve ruined my home._

_You’ve killed my friends…and my queen._

_And you’ve destroyed the only chance we had to defeat Zero._

_Y-You…_

_Y-You’re…_

_…_

**YOU'RE A MONSTER!!!! I HATE YOU SO MUCH, YOU EVIL PSYCHO!!!!** ”

_R-Ribbon…_

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Ah, ah, ah, Ribbon. Using such hurtful words is a no-no. I’ll have to punish you for that. Hmm…your life should do the trick. And I’ll do your friends as a bonus. ***creepy demented giggle***_ ”

“ _Wh-What?_ ”

The Arle clone raised her hand. And a dark shadowy sphere started forming from her palm. It grew bigger and bigger. Until it was as big as a giant puyo.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Ready for this?_ _Diamond Cutie!_ ” The clone then fired the shadow ball at us.

_No…I can’t…let this happen. After coming this far, too._

“Reflect For-”

“ **Puyo Mirror!** ”

***PING***

***BOOM***

“H-Huh?! Wh-What?!”

“Amitie! Look!” Adeleine said.

I looked to where she was pointing…and saw what…

…

What looked like…

“ **K-Kirby?!** ”

He wasn’t his normal pink color anymore. Kirby was now a mix of all the colors of a rainbow. And his galaxy-like eyes were replaced with ones of pure whiteness. He was also more jiggly, too.

Almost like…a puyo.

“ **Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh…What happened to you, Kirby?!** ” I begin panicking.

Kirby didn't answer my question. In fact no, one did. We just sat there and watched as Kirby stood there. Face-to-face with Arle's fallen angel clone.

“ _Ooh. This is interesting._ ” She said. Then went silent as she placed her left hand over her left ear.

“ _Hmm? Master…are you sure?_ ”

…

“ _Okay. As you wish, my future universal overlord. ***giggle***_ ” She then lowered her hand and went back to us.

“ _So sorry to cut this short, Star Warrior. But my master doesn’t want me to fight you. It wants you all to itself. Along with the Light Soul._ ”

“I-It wants…to fight me?” I asked.

But I was ignored once again. As the clone teleported again. And was back to cuddling the embarrassed Arle while being near inches to her face.

“ _And I’ll be back for you later. My sweet and precious little kitten. ***giggle* *creepy demented giggle***_ ”

“ _I-I…_ ”

“ **Hey! Back the hell off!** ” We all looked shocked as we turned to who just yelled that.

As that person…was Ringo.

“ _Ooh. Looks like I’ve struck a nerve. Just so you know, Ringie. I also like smart girls. Fufufufufu._ ”

Ringo didn't say anything. But I can tell she was getting more angry with this shadowy fallen angel of a clone.

“ _Arrivederci, everyone. See you soon. ***loud creepy demented giggle***_ ” This was the last thing Arle’s messed-up clone said to us before disappearing out of the destroyed castle. Her laughs slowly getting quieter as time went by.

“ _Oh. My. God._ ” Raffina said.

“ _It looks like Zero has recruited Arle’s clone to do its bidding._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“We gotta tell the others! And fast!” I yelled.

“Poyo!”

“Uh…guys.” Adeleine said.

We then looked at the only two people who’ve barely said a word most of that encounter. One was filled with embarrassment, while the other was overloaded with sadness and depression.

“A-Arle? R-Ribbon?” I said.

Neither said a word. And the two walked/flew out the ruined castle in total silence.

Zero hasn’t even being freed for that long. And it’s already caused so much destruction. Embarrassing the hell out of one friend and ruining the life of another.

This is a huge problem.

…

_And we’re nowhere close to stopping it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zero’s reign of destruction and revenge had begun. And to start, it has created Shadow Arle. Previously Arle’s clone made by Amitwo, now a demented mix of a soul and a fallen angel. She’s destroyed everything that represents Ripple Star. Shattering the Crystal and murdering all of its residents aside from Ribbon.
> 
> All part of Zero’s plan for universal annihilation.
> 
> Sorry if this chapter seems darker than the others. It’s just that…well, if you’re a Kirby fan, you know that around this part of the game (any game, really), it gets really, really dark. To the point where you don't want to think about it too deeply…but you do it anyway. Because Kirby lore is surprisingly addicting. 
> 
> Not sure when the next chapter will go up. Currently working on other stories. But do feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	47. When Secrets Come Out & Worlds Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Note #1: Before we start this chapter, I would like to say that…at long last, this story is almost over. After this chapter, there will be only 3 more to go. And the final one will be a bonus chapter of sorts.  
> So sit back, relax, and read along. As Amitie, Kirby, and friends from both worlds take part in the most intense battle of their lives.
> 
> Enjoy!

We decided to return to the Lor Starcutter, which was finished being repaired, and were traveling back to lower ground. During that time, we told the others what we had experienced back on Ripple Star.

“Zero already attacked?” Magolor asked.

“Yeah.” Adeleine said. “And it took control of Arle’s clone. Sending her to destroy the planet, the Crystal, and murder all of its residents. There’s nothing left of Ripple Star. It’s gone.”

“Oh, dear. How is Ribbon handling it?” Susie asked.

“As you would expect, not well.”

“I see…”

“ _Tch. So that damn thing even stole my minion. Now I really want to make Zero pay. I’ll rip that eye right out of its body!_ ”

“I see you’re feeling better.” I said to Amitwo.

“ _I don’t need your sarcasm._ ”

“Well, besides. You wouldn’t want Arle’s clone back. Sh-She’s changed.”

“ _Huh? How?_ ”

“Zero made her in a fallen angel.” Raffina explained. “She’s now a shadowy figure that can make shadow balls and stuff.”

“S-So basically…Shadow Arle? That’s insane.” Lidelle said.

“Shadow Arle…imagine the power she must have. _Making her my possession_ would be way more _satisfying_ than the original. No doubt about it.”

“Okay, seriously. What is wrong with you, pervert?” Adeleine asked Schezo with an uncomfortable look on her face.

“Tch! Do not misread my words! **And quit calling me a pervert!** ”

“Then learn to speak right.” Misuki said.

“Plus, now she’s honestly really creepy. With how she kept calling Arle “her precious little kitten”.” Raffina added.

“ _Tch. A-Aw, damnit._ ” Amitwo suddenly became nervous when she heard that.

“ _Didn’t she used to say that a lot before all this happened?_ ” Raina asked.

“So, you know why she’s so immersed with Arle, do you?” Ringo asked.

…

Amitwo didn’t answer and looked away from us with a faint blush on her cheeks. This actually blew my mind. As up until now, she hasn’t shown much emotion besides pure psycho.

“ _L-Look. Th-That’s something you’re gonna have to ask her about. I-I don’t want to talk about it._ ”

“What?” I asked.

“Quit being stubborn.” Raffina said.

“ _I'm not being stubborn! I just don't want to talk about it! Lay off!_ ”

Amitwo tried floating away from us. But was stopped when she felt her arm being grabbed. And turned to see Ringo staring her down. With a pissed off determined look on her face.

"Listen, you! It's your fault that Shadow Arle became a thing! And that she's now a minion to Zero! You've doomed us all from the very start! And if you want us to forgive you for all the crap you've put us through, then you are going to tell us every damn thing you know about her! **You got that, Dark Soul?!** ”

“ _Wh-Whoa…_ ” Was all some of us were able to say.

“R-Ringo. C-Calm down.” Maguro said.

“ _You look tired. Want some cherries?_ ” Cherri asked.

“R-Ringo…”

We all turned around to see Arle standing near the doorway. It looked liked she had calmed down from what happened on Ripple Star. And she had just witnessed Ringo’s threat towards Amitwo.

“A-Arle, I…”

“Ringo. I-It’s okay. I-If you really want to know…th-then I’ll tell you.”

“R-Really?”

Arle nodded. Then turned to face the rest of us.

“Amitie. Raffina. Lidelle. C-Can you guys come too? Th-This basically a really big secret I’m telling for the first time.”

“Sure, Arle. If it’ll help you, then it’s fine.” I said.

“Thanks, Amitie.”

“Hey, wait. Why not me?! We’ve known each other all our lives!” Misuki complained.

“True. But I don’t trust you. You’ll just make fun of me.”

“N-No, I won’t!”

“Yeah, you will.” Schezo said.

“ **Who asked you?!** ”

"Alright." Arle said. "We'll be back…"

"Wait, hold on." Lemres said. "I think it's best that you take Raina and Cherri with you. You know, with the two being clones…"

“ _R-Right…_ ” The five of us said with exasperated sighs.

Raina and Cherri, on the other hand…were extremely confused.

 

**Arle’s POV**

 

 _Aw, geez. I thought I would never have to tell this secret to anyone. Keeping it inside me was doing fine. But now that there’s yet **ANOTHER**_ _doppelgänger of me…this one being a fallen angelic psychopath that **CLEARLY** made it obvious to everyone…I don’t have a choice anymore._

_At least I’m telling people I can trust first…_

We all went to one of the empty rooms in the back of the ship in order to get some privacy. While I tried to get comfortable enough and mentally prepare myself for what I’m about to say, Raffina and Ringo were talking to their clones. Making sure they understand what’s happening.

“Now listen, Raina…” Raffina said.

“You too, Cherri.” Ringo added.

“What Arle is about to tell us is **_really_** important to her.”

“So much so, that it **CANNOT** leave this room. Meaning, you both **CANNOT** tell anyone this.”

“Otherwise, it would make Arle **_really really_** upset.”

“ _Understand?_ ”

“ _Understand?_ ” They both asked.

“ _Yes, Sis. I understand._ ” Raina said.

“ _I get it._ ” Cherri said.

“Good.” Raffina said.

“And, Cherri.” Ringo said. “If you keep this promise, I’ll get you some cherries when we get home, okay?”

“ _Yay._ ” Cherri cheered.

…

I-I think.

“ _An extra safety net._ ” Ringo whispered to us.

“ _Nice._ ” Raffina whispered as the two high-fived each other.

“Alright. Whenever you’re ready, Arle.” Amitie said to me.

…

“Arle?”

“S-Sorry, guys. I-I just need a minute.” I said.

_I **REALLY** don’t want to do this. But with Shadow Arle going around exposing it all, I have to suck it up and get it over with._

“A-Alright. W-Well…first off, my clone. As it was made obvious, she’s very different from the others.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Raffina said. “I mean, what was up with that psycho? After nonchalantly admitting to murdering Ribbon’s friends she starts flirting with you? The hell?”

“Sh-She did that?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah. And she even kissed her, too.”

“ **K-Kiss?!** ”

“I-I know. I-It was really shocking.” Amitie said as both girls were blushing.

_I honestly don’t think their pure/dense heads are going to understand this._

“W-Well…th-there’s a reason why Shadow Arle acts like that. and it has to do with a secret that I’ve kept to myself most of my life.”

“A secret?”

“ _Did you kill somebody?_ ” Cherri asked.

“ **What?! No, Cherri! Why would I kill someone?!** ”

“ _Well, everyone has a reason to die. Just like how everyone has a reason to eat, sleep, or play Mario Kart._ ”

“Please don’t make Mario Kart disturbing…” Lidelle said. As a Mario Kart fangirl.

“A-Anyway…what’s your real secret, Arle?” Ringo asked. Pretending her clone didn’t say anything.

…

…

“W-Well…y-you see…I-I mean, to make it easier to explain…w-well, okay. Shadow Arle has a huge thing for me.”

“Well, yeah. We saw that with our own eyes. What’s your point?” Raffina asked.

“W-Well…wh-when she kissed me…”

_O-Or is it I kissed me? Wh-Whatever._

“…”

“I-I…e-enjoyed it.”

“ **Huh?!** ” Everyone yelled. Shocked by what I had just confessed.

“A-Arle…” Amitie said. “A-Are you saying…”

“ **YOU’RE GA-** ”

“ **SHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!** ” I covered everyone’s mouth in a fit of panic. I then let go once I was sure they would keep quiet for now.

“T-Technically, I’m bisexual. But I didn’t really see that in Shadow Arle.” I continued.

“Wow, Arle. I had no idea.” Lidelle said.

“ _Wait, I don’t get it. what does being bisexual mean?_ ” Raina asked.

…

…

“Uh…I-I’ll tell you later, Raina.” Raffina said.

“ ** _*whine*_** ”

“But…what do you mean by “you didn’t see it in Shadow Arle”?” Ringo asked.

“Um…well…”

“ _You plan on using her love for you as a way to defeat her, do you?_ ”

We all looked at the doorway and saw that Amitwo had entered the room without any of us noticing.

“Wha-What are you…” Amitie said.

“ _Save it. I’ve heard enough already._ ”

“You figured it out from the start, didn’t you?” I asked her.

“ _Obviously. Or else I wouldn’t be here. Though, I will admit. Admitting that secret of yours really took some guts. Wish Amitie do the same already._ ”

“Wh-What?!” Amitie yelled.

“ _Oh, don’t give me that crap. Everyone here knows the damn truth._ ”

I’m guessing that she’s talking about Amitie’s crush on Sig. Because Amitie then went silent as she started blushing extensively.

“So my clone. Was she always this infatuated with me?” I asked.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Yeah. She was a total nutjob about you. All day it was always “Arle-sama” this and “Arle-sama” that. She creeped everyone out with how she would always explain in full detail how she would “love her precious little kitten”._ ”

“L-Love?” Amitie and Raffina asked.

“I-In full detail?” Ringo and Lidelle asked.

“ _I don’t get it._ ” Raina and Cherri said.

“Y…Y-You don’t need to!” The previous four yelled with mild blushes on their faces.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Just as I thought.” I said. “And I bet her becoming a fallen angel made her even crazier about me. Along with being an unremorseful killer.”

…

“H-Hey…Amitwo. If I would’ve confessed earlier in my life, would Shadow Arle’s personality been different?”

“ _I made the clones based on the opposite of your current personalities. Like how Raina is nicer than Raffina, Ridel is eviler than Lidelle, and Cherri is more nonchalant than Ringo. Your sexual preferences had nothing to do with it. So I’m guessing that she fell in love with you on her own._ ”

“What did you do with Arle’s?” Raffina asked.

“ _Easy. I made her less of a tomboy._ ”

“Oh. That makes sense.” The others said.

“ **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!** ” I shouted.

"Yes. Yes, you are."

“Tch. Whatever. So that’s how it is, huh? **_*sigh*_** Geez, I feel so bad for Ribbon. Her entire planet’s a wasteland because of my selfish desire to keep a secret. I bet she hates me now.”

“No, I don’t.”

Now at the doorway was honestly someone I didn’t expect to see so easily.

“R-Ribbon! I-I…”

“How much did you hear?” Lidelle asked.

“Pretty much all of it. I was in the room next door.”

_Aw, damnit._

“R-Ribbon…”

“Arle, it’s okay. I understand. Even if I can’t really relate to you about who you wish to love, you’re really not to blame for what happened to Ripper Star.”

“If you really want someone to blame, then you can blame Amitwo.”

“ _Oh my God! I get it already! Stop rubbing it in!_ ” Amitwo yelled at her twin.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is…I really want to make Zero pay for its evil crime. And I can’t do it without you. Or anyone else, for that matter. So will you help me? Let’s continue our fight…together.”

I couldn’t believe how much Ribbon has gotten over. And she’s had it worse than me. But that confidence…it’s greater now than it was when I first met her. The fact that she has so much at this given time…

…

…I-It’s a lot like me.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Alright, Ribbon. I’m in!” I cheered. “Let’s go give Zero what for!”

“Yeah!” Ribbon, Amitie, Ringo, Raffina, Raina, and Lidelle cheered along with me.

“ _Yay._ ” Cherri…I-I’m not too sure.

“ _Hmph. A bit cheesy for my taste. But at least it’s some progress._ ” Amitwo said.

_Girl, don’t kill the mood…_

 

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

“We’re back.” Ringo said as we went back to join the others.

“R-Ribbon. You were with them?” Adeleine asked.

“For a little. I did overhear them. But I’m feeling better now. Thanks for worrying about me, Adeleine.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** I’m just glad you’re not depressed anymore.”

“Well, what was it?! Spicy?! Juicy?! Delicious even?! **Tell me, Damnit!** ”

“Uh…”

“Calm down, you loon.” Schezo said to Misuki.

“I’m still not telling you, Witch.” Arle said.

“ _Aw! But I wanna know!_ ”

“It’s a secret. I’m not telling you no matter what you do to me.”

“ _Hmph._ We’ll see about that. _Ohhohoho._ ”

_This girl…_

“Well, whatever it is, it better be worthwhile.” Marx said.

"Why do you, of all people, care all of a sudden?" Raffina asked.

“What? You mean I shouldn’t? We got a giant bloody eye and a demented clone out to destroy our worlds. I don’t want my death to be at the hands of someone who refers to Arle as her “precious little kitten”. Whatever the heck that is.”

“I’m especially not talking about that part.” Arle said while blushing a bit.

“Precious little kitten? **_*giggle*_** Looks like Arle got herself a new nickname, huh?”

…

…

“Uh…who just said that?” Adeleine asked.

“ _I-It can’t be a ghost, right?_ ” Lidelle asked.

“Well, obviously not.” Schezo said. “Yu’s stuck as a weak human and Rei was never a good ghost to begin with.”

“Hey!”

“Hey.” The twins yelled(?) from being insulted.

“Meow. _Meow._ ”

“Huh? You sense the power of that person? So, it’s in the ship?” Chetta asked her cat.

“Meow.”

“Chetta’s right. I sense the power, as well. It is a strong foe.” Meta Knight added.

"A strong foe? Bah. I don't care. I'm going to bed." Flamberge said as she went towards the back of the ship

“Are you really just **THAT** lazy?” Maguro asked.

“Sorry. Can’t hear you. I’m across the room, so this text shouldn’t even be typed.”

“Now she’s breaking the 4th wall.” Francisca said.

“And yet, she gets angry when we call her lazy.” Zan added.

“ _A strong foe…_ ” I said while thinking about it hard.

“You think it’s an ultra-rare bug?”

“No, Sig.”

“Oh.”

…

…

_W-Wait… **WHAT?!**_

I turned to my side to see if I really was hallucinating. I really hoped that I was, actually.

But I wasn’t.

“ **S-SIG?!** ” Arle, Ringo, Raffina, Lidelle, and I shouted like we’ve never shouted before.

“Hey. Everyone.”

“ **Sig! What the hell are you doing here?!** ” Raffina yelled.

“Hmm…not sure.”

“ **Huh?!** ”

“I just found this place.”

“ **Just FOUND it?!** ”

“I guess.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Aw, geez. I’m already getting a headache._ ”

“Hey, Amitie. You know this boy?” Adeleine asked me.

“Yeah, we do. This is Sig. he’s also from our world. And the reason why he has a red arm is because he’s part demon.”

“Part demon? Wow.”

“Poyo poyo.” Kirby added.

“Maybe that’s how he got here.” Ribbon said.

“N-No…” Arle said. “I highly doubt…”

“ **ARLE NADJA!!!** ”

“H-Huh?! What was…” We heard another voice of a person we knew from our world. And now that same person is now in this world for some reason.

And that person is…

“ **R-Rulue?!** ”

“ **I knew it! I knew you had to be in here! You’ve got some nerve! Finding shelter for yourself while leaving me and Darling Satan out to die!** ” Rulue continued to yell at a fit of rage like how she always does whenever Arle is involved in anything. Though, Arle still sees her as a friend.

It’s a weird rivalry that I don’t understand.

“And this girl is…” Adeleine asked.

“That’s Rulue.” Misuki said. “She calls herself the Fighting Queen due to her being good at martial arts. She also hates Arle.”

“Why? What did she do?”

“Nothing.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s just say…love makes you a complete idiot.” Schezo said.

***POW***

“Ow!”

“ ** _I heard that, Dark Wizard!_** ” Rulue yelled in a threatening tone. Punching Schezo in the head as punishment.

“Okay. This is getting illogical.” Ringo said.

“If you think all of this is illogical, then you haven’t seen nothing yet, Ringie! **_*giggle*_** ”

“ **E-Ecolo?! Wh-Why are you here?!** ” Ringo shouted as Ecolo appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh? Didn’t you miss me, Ringie? You and pretty boy were gone for a while, you know.”

“I know that, and I didn’t miss you!”

“Ouch. Cold as ever, Ringie. **_*giggle*_** ”

“That’s Ecolo.” Maguro explained to Adeleine. “He’s able to travel through dimensions using space-time. Plus, he drools…a lot.”

“W-Wait! S-So this is the Ecolo you guys were talking about?!”

“H-He looks scary.” Ribbon added.

“ _He’s interesting, to say the least._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Poyo.”

“Hey, uh…Wuffina.”

“It’s Raffina!” Raffina yelled at Sig.

“Why is there two of you? And two of Ammy? And who’s the girl with the white hoodie?”

“Sig. It’s me.” Yu said.

“Yu?”

…

“You looked really cute when you were alive.”

“ **C-Cute?!** ” Yu started to blush. “I…I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! Th-This isn’t cute!”

“She likes it.” Chetta said.

“Yep.” Rei agreed.

“Chilly.”

“ **N-No, I don’t!** ”

_She really does._

“Now that I notice, Ringie. There’s two of you now. Who’s the second playmate, huh?” Ecolo asked.

“She’s not some toy, Ecolo.” Ringo said.

“ _Do you got any cherries?_ ” Cherri asked Ecolo.

“No, but can get you some if you become my playmate. That a deal?”

“ _Okay._ ”

“Cherri. No.” Ringo said. “How are you three…well, hold on scratch that. How are you two here?” She then asked Sig and Rulue.

“Yeah. This is a different world and all.” Arle added.

"Huh? A different world?" Sig looked confused.

“What nonsense are you blabbing about?” Rulue asked.

“We never left Primp.” Ecolo said.

“ **H-HUH?!** ” We all shouted.

“Although, technically…we’re also in this Dream Land place you guys call home. It’s rather weird-looking. **_*giggle*_** ”

“Hey! What do you mean weird-looking?!” Adeleine asked.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo…”

“Yeah, she is missing the point.” I agreed with Kirby’s statement.

“What do you mean by that?” Arle asked.

“Well, if you must know…look outside and you’ll see for yourself.” Rulue said.

All of us looked outside…and saw the most frightening thing we've ever seen in our natural born lives.

“ _O…Oh. My. God._ ” Was what most of us could say.

What we saw…was an absolute nightmare. We were looking at Dream Land…but also Primp Town. The two worlds were now fused together. With locations from our world mixed in with the areas of Dream Land. And there was also a giant dark swirling cloud up in the sky. Looking really ominous and scary.

“ _P…Poyo poyo poyo…_ ”

“ _Y-Yeah, little buddy. Th-This is not good at all._ ” I agree with Kirby.

“ _Wh-What…happened?_ ” Arle asked.

“Not sure.” Sig said. “This just started happening all of a sudden. A bunch of weird-looking black eyes are even swarming in the sky.”

“Crap! This has to be Zero’s doing!” Adeleine said.

“Zero? Who the hell is that?” Rulue asked.

“A fallen angel that’s basically a giant bloody eyeball.”

…

…

“What?”

“What nautical nonsense did you guys do here?” Ecolo asked.

_Really…_

“Long story.” I said. “Right now, we need to fix this. And we’ll need everyone’s help. From both worlds, too.”

“Amitie’s right.” Meta Knight said. “The best way to do this is to split up and cover as much land as possible. The true enemy could attack at any moment.”

“Right! Let’s go, Kirby!”

“Poyo poyo!”

“ _Wait. I’m coming, too._ ” Amitwo said. “ _If this world really is fused with Primp, then there’s someone I want to see._ ”

I really want to ask her who this person is. But knowing her, she’s not going to tell me. Even though we’ve made peace with each other.

Sort of.

“Okay. Fine by me.” I said.

We soon got into 4 teams of 4 while the rest went across the fused up worlds to help those in need. Us teams then went out to certain locations in this mess of an area for extra support.

And I already had a few people in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arle reveals a secret she’s been hiding for years. And now she plans to use it to stop Shadow Arle and her murderous rampage of love in a Primp Town/ Dream Land fused-up abomination.
> 
> But little do they know, Zero is closer than they think. And it won’t go down without a fight. Next chapter, characters from both universes team up for the final battle. Stay tuned. It’ll be a long one, too.
> 
> Later.


	48. Amitwo's True Identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here till the end of the chapter, we will be following four teams of 4 as they explore the fused up worlds. Looking for survivors and allies for the final battle. 
> 
> Not all characters from previous chapters will be used. Although, some will be added to each party as the story continues. Also, the first character in said team will be that character’s POV.
> 
> Alright. Let’s continue.

**Chapter 48 – Amitwo’s True Identity**

**Team #1 – Amitie, Kirby, Dark Red Amitie, Meta Knight**

“Poyo…poyo.”

“Yeah. It has been a while since you’ve been here huh, little buddy?” I said to Kirby.

“ _Wait, he’s already been here?_ ” Amitwo asked.

“Well…from what he told me, he was on something called an Air Ride and an accident happened that sent him here. He actually crash-landed in my backyard.”

“It was the uncontrollable acts of that Sphere Doomer that caused the fateful meeting.” Meta Knight added.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Yeah, I guess it was a fateful meeting. Wasn’t it, Kirby?”

“Poyo poyo.”

“ _Hmph. I guess._ " Amitwo didn't really seem to care much. Which kinda makes sense since she's the opposite of me. Who cares about pretty much everything.

The four of us were walking through the messed up combination of the two worlds. The buildings of Primp Town Plaza were still here. But most were mixed up with elements from what looked like Butter Building. And even then, some were destroyed due to the sudden attack by Zero and Shadow Arle. It wasn’t a pretty sight no matter how you look at it.

“So, Amitie. Where exactly are we going?” Meta Knight asked me.

“Well…I’m looking for my friend, Feli. She knows a lot about dark things related to this. I’m hoping that she knows a way to defeat Zero.”

“I see.”

“ _Feli? That’s an odd choice. You really sure she can help?_ ” Amitwo asked.

"You don't know her like how I do. The two of us has gotten really close recently."

“ _Recently? What happened?_ ”

“Well…”

“ ** _KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!_** ”

“Poyo? Poyo poyo!”

“Don’t worry, Kirby. I know where that came from.” I said as I rushed on forward with the other three following behind.

 

Up ahead was the person I was looking for being Feli. But she wasn't alone. She was with her dog Baldanders and her older sister Mao. The latter coming from a different world.

It’s a long story that I can’t explain right now. Maybe later.

“ ** _KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! These damn eyeballs won’t let up at all! And they keep getting stronger, too!_** ” Feli screamed as the trio were fighting off the black eyeballs. Blasting and slashing every one that got close to them.

“ ** _Tch! Just keep at it, little sis!_** ” Mao shouted. “ ** _Whatever these abominations are, they’ll know the true power of the Occult Art of Divination!_** ”

“ ** _Can you go on, Bal?!_** ”

“ **ARF! ARF ARF!** ”

“ ** _Alright, on three! One. Two. THREE!_** ”

“ ** _Principle Star!_** ”

“ ** _Principle Star!_** ”

“ **ARF ARF _ARRRRRRF!_** ”

The trio attacked once more and fended off the black eyes as they were either destroyed or fled. Depending on which ones survived.

“ _Fufufufu. As fate would have it._ ” Feli said with a small grin on her face as she twirled her dowsing rod around.

“Such extreme power from such a small girl.” Meta Knight said.

“Poyo.”

“H-Hey, Meta Knight. Try not to say that in front of Feli. She really hates that.” I said with a sweatdrop. “Hey! Feli!”

“Amitie!” Feli yelled.” “Where the hell were you?! You disappeared all of a sudden and…wait, why are there two of you?” She then got confused when she saw Amitwo floating next to me.

“It’s a long story.”

“Longer than what we went through?” Mao asked.

“Way.”

“ARF.” Baldanders was just as amazed as his owners were.

“So does this long story explain why this madness is going on?” Feli asked.

“Long story short, I need to stop a giant bloody eye-looking fallen angel and a demented fallen angel clone of Arle from destroying our world and the world where these two are from.” I said while pointing at Kirby and Meta Knight.

…

…

…

“What?”

“ARF?” The Kuromi Trio had a hard time understanding and/or believing what I just said.

“ _It may sound ridiculous, but it’s true._ ” Amitwo added.

“Poyo.”

“It could spell impending doom if we don’t.” Meta Knight said.

“ _Right._ ” Feli said.

_She still finds this hard to believe._

“Well…we’ll be glad to help out. Rather not have Primp look dark and disturbing all the time. What to do first?”

“Well, I was wondering if…”

“ _Where’s Melody?_ ” Amitwo cut me off.

“Huh? Melody? Why do you need her? A-And what are you, anyway?” Mao asked.

“Why do you want my mom? What are you planning?” I asked.

“ _I’ve got my reasons. Now tell me where she is._ ”

“Geez, you’re snarky. Fine. She and Lily are taking shelter at your house. What, do you need us to escort you there too, your majesty?” Mao asked in an annoyed tone.

“ _Hmph. And you’re calling me snarky? You’re a big hypocrite, you know that?_ ”

“Oh, really? You wanna say that again while I blast you with my charms, you damn little brat?”

“ _Oh, you’re just asking for it now, goth girl!_ ”

“Goth girl?! _Why I outta…_ ”

“ **Guys!** ” I shouted as I got in between the two while one had red shadow orbs in her hands and the other’s wand was glowing purple. “ **We don’t have time for this!** ” I then turned to Amitwo. “Look, I don’t know why you want to see my mom. But if it will change your attitude, then we’ll go there. Alright?”

“ _Finally! Let’s go already!_ ” Amitwo said as she flew right past us. Giving Mao the stink eye while doing so.

"Geez. This other you is a real pain, Amitie." Mao said to me.

“Trust me, Mao. You have no idea.” I replied with an exasperated look on my face.

 

With the extra three help with us, we went over to my house to look for Mom and Lily. So that Amitwo would shut up for a second while we stop the mess she basically caused.

While doing so, I introduced Feli, Mao, and Bal to Kirby and Meta Knight.

“ **Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! SOOO CUUUTE!!!!!!** ”

And I had to stop Feli’s girly side from squishing Kirby into oblivion. The girl has a surprisingly strong grip. Makes me wonder why she’s so short in the first place.

Of course. I’m not going to ask her that. I want to stay alive, thank you.

We soon reached my house and I tried to open the door. But it was locked. No surprise. What with this monstrosity going on right now.

“Mom! Open up! It’s me, your daughter!” I yelled while banging on the door.

…

But no one answered.

“ ** _*sigh*_** I bet she’s sleeping through all this.”

“Is that normal?” Meta Knight asked.

“Yeah, it is. My mom isn’t exactly what you would call “normal”.”

“I see.”

I was about to knock again when I heard the door unlock and slowly open on its own.

“Okay…that’s weird.” Feli said.

“ _Who cares if it is? Let’s go already._ ” Amitwo said.

“Alright. Cool off already, will you.” I said as I took the first step inside. It was really quiet. Dark, too. But I was able to see that furniture was knocked over and windows were broken. And there were a few Butter Building elements here as well.

_Not even my own home is safe…_

“Mom! Are you her-”

***SPLAT***

“ **Gah! My eyes! What is this stuff?!** ” I yelled as something was splatted all over my face and making my eyes sting like hell.

“Poyo…poyo poyo.”

“Paint? Where did this paint come from?”

“ **Get back, you vile fiends!** ”

_Wait. That voice. Isn’t that…_

We then saw a figure of a woman appear out of nowhere holding what look liked a gun in her hands.

“ **I guess you didn’t learn from your friends, huh?! Well, no matter! I’ll blast you all with this toxic paint of mine! Prepare to have your weird black eyes melted off!** ”

_Oh, no._

“ **L-Lily! W-Wait! I-It’s us! Amitie, Feli, Mao, and Baldanders! HOLD YOUR FIRE, PLEASE!** ”

“H-Huh? M-Miss Amitie? You’re back all of a sudden. Where were you?” Lily asked once she realized it was us.

“It’s a long story that I can’t explain right now. Just know that Raffina’s safe too.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** At least I can get that off my shoulders.”

“That’s a pretty impressive weapon you have there, ma’am. May I ask what is it?” Meta Knight asked.

“What, this? It’s a paintball gun I’ve had with me since I was younger. It blasts paintballs that can also be toxic.”

“ **T-Toxic?!** ” I panicked.

“Don’t worry, Miss Amitie. That one on your face isn’t one of them. I turned off the setting for it.

"I-I see…" I said as I grabbed a nearby paper towel to wipe my face off of this paint.

“So, is it just you here? Where’s Melody?” Mao asked.

“Oh, right. Melody-senpai! It’s okay! It’s your daughter and friends.”

“Huh?! Ammy?! You came back?!” Mom yelled as she appeared from one of the rooms in the back.

“Mom! You’re okay!” I cheered.

“Of course, I am. I had Lily’s deadly sharpshooting skills to protect me, probably would’ve been a mutilated corpse if she wasn’t here.”

“Y-You’re welcome, Melody-senpai…” Lily said with a sweatdrop.

Mom then went silent as turned to face a specific person in our group. And with a look of mild anger, too. Something I rarely see in her.

“So I see that you got out, huh?”

“ _Well of course, I did. That hat wasn’t going to last much longer and you know it._ ” Amitwo said.

“And I bet you did things that lead up to this happening, huh? **_*sigh*_** I knew you were always trouble. But to do something like this…”

“ _Hey, I didn't plan for a fallen angel to come and wreak havoc like this! So don't put the whole blame on me! You and that stupid Legend are just as responsible!_

“ ** _*sigh*_** There we go with the Legend. You really haven’t changed at all… _Rivitie._

…

“ _Hmph. So you do remember my name._ ”

“Wait…Rivitie? What kind of ridiculous name is that?” I asked.

“ _It’s my ridiculous name, you idiot! Do you not get it, yet?!_ ”

“ **Y-Your name?! M-Mom! Wh-What’s going on?! How do you and Amitwo know each other?!** ”

Mom looked away from me as I got closer to her face. Her mild angry look was now replaced with an extremely sad one. Another rare sight for me.

“A-Ammy…I-I see that you already know about the Legend. So I’m just going to go straight to the point.” Mom took a deep breath before continuing on. “Amitwo…I mean, Rivitie…isn’t a clone. She’s your twin sister.”

…

I stayed silent for a bit while I tried to process what my mother had just told me.

…

“Wha… **WHAT?! M-M-M…MY TWIN SISTER?!** ”

It didn’t work out well.

“Woah. A twin sister? That’s pretty crazy.” Feli said. “Just as crazy as finding out that my older sister was a cheesy magical girl actress.”

“Oh, come on. It was not **_that_** cheesy.” Mao said. Sounding a bit insulted.

“Yeah, Sis. It really was.”

“ARF.”

“ **H-How?! Wh-What?! What is this?!** ” I continued to freak out.

“Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo.” Kirby tried to calm me down, but it wasn’t doing much.

“So this Legend is all a shame?” Meta Knight asked.

“Not completely.” Mom said. “Up till the part where the Puyo Souls sealed the Dark Soul inside the Red Puyo Hat is true. After that…”

…

“…Well, that hat was something I got when you both were born. Speaking of which, the two of you were complete opposites of each other. Amitie was sweet and pure and basically the nicest girl you could ever meet. Rivitie, on the other hand…God, you were a monster. You bullied everyone to the point where they cried and treated them all like they were nothing more than a piece of crap on the ground you walked on. Which was also fitting since you would often shove people’s faces to the ground and step on them. Point is, everyone hated you.

…

Myself included.”

“ _Tch._ ” Was all my clone/sister had to say to that.

_That look does not look good…_

“One day, though…you went too far with the bullying. And by that, I mean you made someone commit suicide because of your sadistic personality. You proved you were a danger to society. So I sealed you up inside the hat, manipulated everyone’s memories into thinking that Amitie’s my only child, and made up the rest of that stupid Legend. But what I didn’t think is that you would actually believe all that and use it to kill your own flesh and blood. And now that I’ve said all that, you really are pitiful. Pathetic, too.”

“ ** _Grr…SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP, MOM! YOU THINK I WANTED TO ACT LIKE THAT?! I ONLY DID IT BECAUSE YOU PUT ME IN THAT DAMN HAT! TOSSED ME ASIDE LIKE I WAS NOTHING WHILE YOU PRETEND TO TREAT AMITIE LIKE YOUR ONLY CHILD! CHRISTMAS, BIRTHDAYS, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN! I HAD TO WATCH ALL OF THAT INSIDE THE DAMN THING! IT SICKENED ME DAY BY DAY BY DAY!!!! IT WAS INFURIATING!!!_**

**_*pant* *pant*_ **

_Of course, I wanted revenge! Sealing me inside that hat with that soul roaming around inside for all these years would obviously make me eviler than I was before! So I waited. Waited until the time was right to get my life back! And when I finally did…when I finally got out and saw my own twin sister that forgot I even existed…the one you and Dad chose over me…the one that replaced me…I was filled with rage! So much so, that she had to die! It felt good to release all that anger after so long!_

_…_

_…_

_But you kept coming back. Over and over and over again. I even tried to do it while you slept. But you still kept coming back! So I figured that the only reason to finally get my revenge was to drag you to a different world and kill you there. But I had no idea how. Then that pink thing…I mean Kirby…showed up and you went to Dream Land to help him out. That’s when I learned about the Legend and Dream Land’s intense power. And I took the chance the moment it came._

_…_

_…_

_But…I didn’t think…it would end up like this._ ”

_Woah. That backstory…I had no idea she was suffering for so long. I thought she was just an emotionless psychopath bent on killing me. But to think that she felt this way the entire time. That’s probably why she cloned the others._

_Because she was lonely._

“H-Hey. Uh…”

"Look, I'm sorry for sealing you up in that hat." Mom cut me off. "But in all honesty…you deserved it, you crazy psychopath."

“ **Mom!** ”

“ **Melody-senpai!** ” Lily yelled.

“What? I mean it. Having her as a daughter was a living hell and she was honestly better off…”

“ ** _I knew it!_** ” My clone, I mean sister shouted in anger. ** _You're still as heartless as before! I pulled my heart out to you! Confessing why I nearly killed your OTHER daughter! And you still treat me like trash! Well, screw you too, Mom! You people are on your own! Have fun being killed by Zero, you meanies!_** ”

“Hey, wait!” I yelled.

But she ignored me. She stuck her tongue out and flew out the house. Releasing the hiding tears she’s held in for years.

“No! Wait!” I shouted again.

But no answer.

“ **Rivitie!** ”

…

…

“ ** _*sigh*_** Fiddlesticks.”

“Poyo…”

“Not really, Kirby. I’m not really okay.”

“Melody-senpai, why would you say that about your own daughter?!” Lily yelled at her.

“Don’t give me that look. I was in the middle of an apology when she cut me off and flew off crying.”

"You need to work on your apologies." Feli said.

“Amitie. Go after her.” Meta Knight said.

“Huh? Should I? What about you guys?”

“We’ll be fine. But if Rivitie really is your twin sister, then her power must be equal to yours in some way other than what the Legend describes. Plus, she has fought Zero once before. Her help is greatly needed.”

“Y-Yeah…true.”

…

“I’ll try and go look for her. But I honestly don’t have high hopes. The way she was acting, she may not want to see me.”

“Poyo!”

“Thanks, Kirby. Let’s start looking.”

“Do you really think they can find her?” Feli asked.

“That, Feli, I’m not sure. But both of our worlds are at stake. We’ll have to take this chance.”

The two of us ran off from the group as we started looking for my just recently discovered twin sister.

_Geez. What a bad time for a derailment…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark Red Amitie, Amitwo, and now her true name…Rivitie. A secret Melody has been keeping from her daughter for years is that…she has a second daughter. And that she’s partly the blame for this Legend becoming a thing in the first place. Now Amitie and Kirby must find her quickly before it’s too late.
> 
> By the way, to pronounce her name, it’s the first three letters of the word “Rival” and then the last four letters of “Amitie”. I wanted to use a French word for it like with Amitie. But none were working out. So I went with this.
> 
> So, I’m adding four more chapters to this. I don’t really have the time to put the whole separate teams plan into one chapter. As real life things are coming up for me soon. But I will be working on this story only for a while. I really want to finish it. It’s been going on for far too long. Feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	49. The Darkest Miracle

**Team # 2 - Raffina, Chetta, Adeleine, Ribbon**

“Woah. So this is Primp Town?”

“Yep. Home sweet home.” Chetta said to Ribbon. “Well…besides the giant swirling cloud of darkness forming above us. Hopefully, we get to show you guys a tour when we don’t get consumed by bloody darkness.”

“Ch-Chetta. Don’t say stuff like that.” I said to her. Telling her not to jinx everything.

With me being captain, Adeleine, Ribbon, Chetta, and I formed a team and decided to head to for the beach to help people in need and to get some help ourselves. Unfortunately, though…this area wasn’t safe from Zero merging the two worlds.

“Geez. Look at this place.” I said.

“From the looks of it, this beach has been merged with Orange Ocean.” Adeleine said.

“Orange Ocean? Is that a place in Dream Land?” Chetta asked.

“Yes.” Ribbon said. “It’s one of the many beaches there. O-Or is it here? Or whatever this mess is called.”

_I don’t blame you for being confused, Ribbon._

“So where did your friend ran off to?” Adeleine asked me.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” I said with an exasperated sigh.

Before everyone had split into teams, Sig had ran off without letting anyone know. Well…the only person who saw him leave was Dongurigaeru. Who said (according to Lidelle) that it looked like he was heading for the beach. So that’s why we came here.

“Well, my guess is that he went to go look for his sister. But figuring out what goes on in that boy’s mind is like solving a Rubik’s Cube.”

“A what?” Adeleine and Ribbon asked.

“N-Not important.”

“Well, I just hope the both of them are okay.” Chetta said. “It would be _cat-tastrophic_ if they ran into any _purr-oblems_ along the way.”

“Do you always make these cat puns?” Adeleine asked.

“Yeah, I do. Cat puns are the most _paw-esome_ way to relax when your 9 lives are in danger. They relax you _me-ind_ , _paw-dy,_ and _e-tail-nal_ soul. Right, my _purr-fect_ little buddy?”

“Meow.”

…

…

…

“Uh…Raffina?”

“Chetta really loves cats. Like a lot.” I said to Adeleine.

“I-I see…”

“I can tell with her outfit.” Ribbon added.

“Isn’t it just _purr-_ ”

“ **Chetta, please! Enough with the puns!** ” I yelled. Unlike Adeleine and Ribbon, who thought the puns were weird, they were starting to get annoying for me.

Like. Really fast.

 

The four of us continued walking though Primp’s Orange Ocean-like beach. Still looking for either Sig or anyone else that we could help fight off these Dark Matter eyeballs or whatever they’re called.

That’s when we heard…

**_*girly scream*_ **

“Woah! What was that?!” Adeleine asked.

“It sounds like a little girl’s in trouble.” Ribbon said.

“Yeah. It did.” I said. “But it wasn’t a girl.”

“Huh?” Both of them were confused.

“Now that I think about it, it sounded a lot like…”

**_*girly scream*_ **

Chetta was cut off when the owner of the girly scream came rushing out of the nearby palm trees and tall grass.

…

I want to laugh. And I’m not going to hold it in, either.

“ ** _Pfft!_ Baaahahahahaha!!! Look at you, Klug! Running around screaming like a little girl! How pathetic for someone like you!** ”

“ **R-Raffina?! You’re still alive?! And who are you calling pathetic?!** ”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. **_Still_** alive? Were you expecting me to be dead, you damn jerk?”

“Well, think about it. You and the others just flat out disappeared out of nowhere to who knows where. The only logical outcome is that you dropped dead somewhere. But now that I see that you’re alive and breathing…well, it’s a bit of a disappointment in my eyes. Although, it’s good to have you return safely, Chetta.”

“Thanks, Klug.” Chetta said.

“Meow.”

“Tch. Whatever.” I said. “I don’t have the time to argue with you. Have you seen Sig anywhere?”

“Sig?”

“He was with us for a bit, but he ran off somewhere.”

“And we think he went to look for his sister.” Adeleine added.

“So, do you know where he is or not?”

Klug went silent for a bit as he grew his classic (and annoying) smart alec smirk on his face.

_Aw, damn. Here we go…_

“Well…I did happen to see him just recently. But telling you his exact location will take up most of my valuable time. Too bad you’re not a genius like me, Raffina. They do say that brains are better than brawn. **_Kyahahahaha!_** ”

“ _Grr…_ **Listen, you nerdy two-shoes little…** ”

***BOOM***

“ **Wh-What the?!** ”

“The heck was that?” Adeleine asked.

“Meow. Meow. _Meow._ ”

“Akaineko said it came from up ahead.” Chetta translated for her cat.

“Alright, let’s go check it out. Later, Four-Eyes.”

 The four of us then ran past Klug as we began heading towards the source of the load noise.

“H-Hey! W-Wait up! **DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!!!** ” Klug yelled as he chased after us.

 

Our now group of five (yes, I let Klug tag along. He wouldn’t shut up about it and Ribbon said that I should leave people behind. No matter much of a jerk they are.) went deeper into the Orange Ocean Primp Beach where we finally saw where the noise came from.

“Sig!”

“ _Hey ***sniff***. Wuffi…Raffina. And Chetta, too._ ”

_Wow. He actually got my name right. About time, too._

“Raffina?! You’re still alive?!”

“ **S-Seriously! Why was _THAT_ the first thing to come to your mind?!** ” I yelled at Peruvis, who was with him.

“Well, when you think about it…”

“You know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.” I cut off Phoenix before he could throw out an insult at random.

“Did you find Chu, Sig?” Chetta asked.

Sig didn’t answer. Instead, he just grew a sad look on his face. And it looked like he was about to cry.

“W-Well…a-about that…” Peruvis said with the same sad look.

"What's with the sad looks?" I asked. But still didn't get a response from Sig.

That's when I grabbed him by the shoulders and stared him down.

“Sig. What happened to Chu?”

"Uh…guys…" Chetta said as she pointed up to the dark cloudy sky.

Up there was something that was coming down really slowly. A creepy white icosahedron-looking thing that was covered in red spots with black centers that resemble eyes. It also kept spinning a lot. Which, with its unnerving back aura around itself, made it even more creepy.

“What…What the hell is this thing?” Klug asked.

“Oh, God no.”

“What? You know what it is?” I asked Adeleine.

“Yeah. That thing is…”

“ **WAAAAAAAAA!!!! IT’S MIRACLE MATTER!!!** ” Ribbon screamed in fear.

“Miracle Matter?” The rest of us (except Sig) asked.

“It’s another creature of Dark Matter created by Zero. It can use the Copy Abilities as a way to attack. Changing its form as it switches between the 7 that it has.” Adeleine explained.

“ **It also plunged Ripple Star into darkness the first time Zero attacked! I still have nightmares about this thing!** ” Ribbon added. Still screaming in fear.

“Aw, geez. 7 Copy Abilities…” I said.

“Wait, what the heck are you guys talking about? Copy Abilities? Ripple Star? Zero? Where’s all this coming from?” Peruvis asked.

“Sounds like complete nonsense to me.” Klug said.

“You call a giant swirling black cloud forming over your world and a bunch of Dark Matter eyes flying around attacking people nonsense?” Adeleine asked.

“Well, duh. Especially with what just came out of your mouth just now. And who are you, anyway?”

“Look. Long story short, I’m Adeleine. That’s Ribbon. We’re here because our world and this one was fused together by a fallen angel named Zero and we need to stop it. Is that clear enough for you?”

…

…

“Makes sense to me.” Phoenix said.

“ **How?!** ” Klug yelled.

_And yet, he’s supposed to be the smartest one in class. Pathetic._

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Chu…_ ”

“Huh?” I asked as we all turned to Sig.

“ _Chu…why?_ ”

_Woah. Sig's actually crying. This is a big first for me. I thought he didn't have any emotions._

“S-Sig…”

“Look, what we were trying to say before was…that Miracle Matter thing… _k-killed Chu._ ” Peruvis said while holding in her tears.

“ **WHAT?! IT KILLED CHU?!** ” Chetta, Klug, and I yelled in total shock. Once we said that, though, Sig finally broke down and started crying huge tears.

“ ** _Chu! Why?! Why did you had to sacrifice yourself to save me?! I don’t deserve to be here right now! You died because of my idiot self! I can never forgive myself for what happened to you! I’ve failed you as a big brother! WAAAAHAHAHA!_** ”

“Sig…” For the first time in my life, I’ve felt sorry for someone in a good way. Other than bugs, Chu was the most important thing in Sig’s life. And now that she’s gone…

…

“Guys. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“100%, Raffina!” Adeleine said.

“This thing killed my best friend. And I want to claw each of its eyes out!” Chetta said.

“Meow!”

“Hey, guys! Let me help!” Peruvis said. “I may not be all that good at Puyo, but I want to make this thing pay as much as you do!”

“Same goes for me!” Phoenix added. “This thing’s gonna need a lot of miracles once this tortured soul’s through with it! **_Nyahahahaha!_** ”

“I want in, too.” Klug said.

“Wait, really? You **_want_** to help?” I asked him.

“Look, we may not see eye-to-eye with each other…but I understand clearly what’s happening. And if this Zero thing can kill an 11-year-old without any remorse whatsoever, then it has no reason to live itself. Now let me help, will you?”

I couldn’t believe what was coming out of this guy’s mouth.

_First Sig crying, and now Klug being caring. This is starting to become way too much for me to handle._

"Hmph. Fine by me." I said as I gave Klug the first (and probably the last) smile I've ever given him. Then turned to the abomination known as Miracle Matter.

“ **Hey, you! Creepy-ass eye-looking thing!** ”

The thing stopped spinning and its eyes grew angry from the insult I had just given it.

“ **Let’s…** ”

“ **PUYO BATTLE!!!** ” We all shouted as we prepared to battle what may be the most difficult opponent in my life.

_I’ll avenge you, Chu. For your brother’s sake._

 

**BOSS: Vs. Miracle Matter**

Before the battle could start, we were sucked in and trapped inside a dark blue & black void. I had no idea what I was getting myself and the others into. Since I’ve never dealt with anything like this in my life.

But there’s no way in hell I’m showing any fear. Especially not to this damn thing.

“ **Bring it, Multi-Eyes!** ” I yelled. Which only made Miracle Matter angrier.

It then transformed into a fireball with a yellow core in the middle. It then moved itself to the ground and shot out a horizontal column of fire at us.

We all dodged it, but the fact that it did all of that so quickly is what’s concerning.

“G-Geez, that speed! This thing’s crazy fast for a Dungeons & Dragons die!” Peruvis said.

“Adeleine, what was that?! Is that seriously how it attacks?!” I asked her.

"Yeah. Like I said, Miracle Matter attacks using the Copy Abilities. And this one's the Burning Ability. It's basically the same as Fire. But rumors say its hotter."

“Aw, damn.”

“So, is there like any way to beat this thing? Cause I rather not be its next victim.” Klug said.

“To beat Miracle Matter, you’ll have to attack with the same element or Ability as its current form. Though I guess in this case, we’ll just have to use the same colored puyo.”

“I see…” All that info gave me an idea. “Hey, Chetta.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you can draw puyos matching the form this thing takes? Like a lot of them?”

“Hmm…I guess. Never drawn a puyo to life before, but it’s worth a shot. Especially at this moment in time. You help me right, Akaineko?”

“Meow.”

“Alright! Thanks, you two!” I cheered before turning back to this “Miracle” Matter thing.

As I did so, it had turned back to its original form. Then not long after, transformed into an ice cube tilted on its vertices. Surrounding itself with tiny shards of ice.

“So, I’m guessing this is…”

“Its Ice Ability. It can use the tiny shards of ice to attack.” Adeleine explained.

“I see.”

Right after I said that, the tiny shards of ice fell to the ground. And soon formed icy twisters that circled the giant ice cubed freak. The wind from them was strong, too. A bit too strong. But I managed to handle it.

_Grr…this thing’s **REALLY** lucky that I have my skirt under control. Or else, there would’ve been hell to pay._

“Chetta! A bunch of blue puyos, stat!” I yelled.

“I’m on it!” Chetta said as she started painting a bunch of blue puyos along with the other four colors. Each of them coming to life before we grabbed them and started stacking them.

“ **Neige!** ”

“ **Fossa!** ”

“ **Darkness Dive!** ”

“ **Brush Slash!** ”

It was me, Klug, Peruvis, and Adeleine in that order as we unleashed our attacks. Somehow bypassing the ice twisters and hitting the ice cube itself. And once we did that, the twisters disappeared and Miracle Matter changed back to its original icosahedron form.

With a few differences.

“Hey! Some of its eyes are gone!” Klug said.

“That’s what happens when you attack whichever Ability Miracle Matter is currently in. The less it has, the weaker it gets.” Ribbon explained.

“Really, now? Then this should be no effort at all.” Phoenix said with a smirk.

“Don’t jinx it, you loon.” Peruvis retorted.

Miracle Matter’s next Ability form resembled a ball of electricity. It fired three beams of energy a few seconds apart from each other. They nearly hit us, but that was before we noticed that they ricocheted off the ground, the wall, and Miracle Matter itself.

“This is its Spark Ability! This one lasts a bit longer than the others! So we have a little extra time with this!” Adeleine yelled out.

“Right!” I yelled back. “Chetta! Yellow puyos!”

“Yellow puyos! On it!”

Chetta began painting extra yellow puyos along with the other colors. The rest of us grabbed all the live ones and started stacking.

“ **Flame!** ”

“ **Tectonic!** ”

“ **Broken Night!** ”

“ **Brush Splash!** ”

In the same order as the first time, we launched our attacks. They ricocheted off the walls a little. But they all ended up hitting the target. Ending the Spark phase of the fight.

“More eyes are gone! Keep at it, everyone! You’re getting close!” Ribbon cheered.

Its fourth form was a bit of an odd one. It had turned into a green crescent-shaped razor. Covered with moving spikes and smaller crescents trailing behind. It then started moving around like a fish. Going in a path that was way easy to predict.

“Is this…Water?” I asked.

“No. This is Cutter.” Adeleine said. “It may look like a fish, but its sharp crescents can really cut deep if you’re not careful.”

“ _Meow. Meow. Meow._ ”

"No, Akaineko! Adeleine just said it's not a fish!" Chetta said to her cat. Who had a real good "I'm starving. Feed me." type of look.

“ _Meow!_ ”

“I’ll give you some fish afterward. Just help me paint some puyos, okay?”

…

“Meow.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Thanks, my _cat-tacular_ little buddy.”

_Aw, geez. Not again with the puns…_

The girl-cat duo began painting extra green puyos along with the other colors. And the same process applies here, as well.

“ **Décharge!** ”

“ **Stella Innerans!** ”

“ **Devil’s Scream!** ”

“ **Creative Destruction!** ”

And like the other times, the end result is the same.

“ ** _*pant* *pant*_** _H-How many does that make?_ ” I asked. Starting to get drained out from this long fight.

“We’ve defeated three forms. There’s four left.” Adeleine said.

“ **Four more?! That’s ridiculous!** ” Peruvis yelled.

“Girl’s right. We’re moving at a snail’s pace with this damn thing.” Phoenix said.

“What now, oh great commander?” Klug asked in a snarky attitude.

“ _N…N-Not in the mood, Klug._ ” I said.

As I was catching my breath, this so-called "Miracle" changed again. This time, into a large black bubble surrounded by four smaller black bubbles.

And these bubbles were also engulfed in flames.

“ **W-Woah! O-Okay, that’s new!** ” Adeleine began to panic.

“Wh-What is that?!” Chetta asked.

“It just mixed Burning from before with Bomb, another one of its Ability forms. I have no idea what could happen with this. Nor do I know how to stop it.”

“ ** _Crap!_** ” I whined as we all looked at the monstrosity of a creature. Its small flaming black bubbles were spinning rapidly around the bigger one.

And soon they stopped. The flames got bigger. The room was getting hotter. And we were all about to die.

“No! **No, damnit! I’m too young and pretty to die now! I still have things to do and…** ”

“ **Lapis Lazuli!** ”

Suddenly, a big blue star appeared below the thing and soon big blue lights of fire raised from the ground. Doing tremendous damage to it and reverting it back to its original form.

“ _Woah…_ ”

“ _Wh-What was that?_ ” Adeleine and Ribbon asked.

 _Wait a second._ _Lapis Lazuli? There’s only one person I know that can use that spell._

I looked over to my left and…just as I though…there he was.

“S-Sig?”

Pissed as all hell.

“ _You. You goddamn nuisance of a thing. You killed my baby sister. The one thing I care about more in this world than bugs. You are an unforgivable monster. **And I’m gonna make you pay, damnit!**_ ”

“W-Woah…” Klug said.

“S-Sig…” Peruvis said.

“Th-This is a new side of him that even I find terrifying.” Phoenix said.

_H-Holy crap. H-He even cursed a little._

_…_

_Sig. I really hope Amitie doesn’t see you like this…_

“Chetta!”

“Y-Yes!” Chetta got startled a little from Sig’s current mood.

“Paint as much puyos as you can! I’m gonna go full throttle on this “Miracle”!

"Y-Yes! S-Sir!" Chetta began painting like if her life depended on it (which, in hindsight, it actually does). Painting puyo after puyo until there were too many to count. The pile was even up to my ankles at this point.

“S-Sig! Wh-What do you plan on doing with all these puyos?!” I asked.

Sig looked at me. With the same angered look on his face. But that angered look turned into a creepy demented smile. One that shivered my spine.

“Simple.” He said. Then he turned back to Miracle Matter with that same grin.

“ _Ready? And…_ ”

“ **FEVER!** ”

The puyos raised up and were instantly stacked up in a pre-set chain. With a group of puyo in Sig’s red claw.

“ **Wait, WHAT?!** ” Klug yelled.

“ **D-Did he just entered Fever Mode just like that?!** ” Peruvis asked in shock.

“ **No way, no way, no way, no way, NO WAY!!!** ” Chetta began freaking out.

“G-Guys, hold on! What the heck is Fever Mode?!” Adeleine asked.

“It’s a super powerful mode where you pop as many puyos as you can in a pre-set chain. When you clear one wall, the next wall gets bigger. Thus giving you more puyo to pop and more power to gain.” I explained.

“W-Woah, really?!”

“You guys have such a thing in this world?!” Ribbon asked.

“Dream Land isn’t the only place with extraordinary power. Although, most of it here is unexplainable.”

“Much like Dream Land.” Both girls said with a sweatdrop.

“ **Alright, let’s go!** " Sig yelled as we saw him set off the first puyo wall.

“ _Awaken..._ ”

“ _My soul!_ ”

“ _Slumber…_ ”

“ _Thy blood!_ ”

“ **Cyan!** ”

_Wait! Those aren’t his fever spells! I-I think. I don’t really pay attention to anyone else’s._

Sig kept pelting the evil icosahedron will a mix of his own spells and spells that I’ve never even heard him say. The damage he did was crazy.

But even more so was the fact that…

“ **H-He got an All-Clear!** **On the first wall!** ” I shouted.

“ **H-How?! That’s not possible!** ” Klug shouted.

Sig continued and went from a 5-chain wall to an 8-chain wall. And after laying a few puyos, he set off the chain.

“ _Awaken..._ ”

“ _My soul!_ ”

“ _Slumber…_ ”

“ _Thy blood!_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

“ **L-L-Lapis Lazuli!** ”

Sig rushed through the wall like it was nothing. Repeatedly hitting Miracle Matter with his attacks. And we could see that it was getting weaker by slowly flowing to the dark ground that it created.

_Wait. It’s working? It’s actually working?! **How?! JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THIS POWER?!**_

“ **He got another All-Clear!** ” Peruvis yelled.

“ **Back-to-back All Clears?! I didn’t think that was a thing!** ” Chetta yelled.

“Meow!”

“This is one hell of a show.” Phoenix said as he dug through the bucket of popcorn in his hands.

“Where the hell did you get popcorn?!” Peruvis asked him

"Is that really important right now? Your childhood friend is on a full-out rage."

“He has a point.” Klug said.

“Sh-Shut it!”

Sig had now moved up from an 8-chain wall to an 11-chain wall. Unlike the other two, this one was plain and simple to set off.

But Sig…he went on and build it up anyway. And from the looks of it, it was as big as a 15-chain wall…

…

W-Wait. Wh-What’s was Sig strongest spell again? Hydro-some…thing…

_Oh no._

“Guys. We need to run. **NOW!** ”

“Huh? Run from what?” Adeleine asked.

“Trust us! It’s for the best! **NOW RUN!!!** ”

We ran as far as we could as Sig had finally set off his massive puyo wall.

“ _Awaken..._ ”

“ _My soul!_ ”

“ _Slumber…_ ”

“ _Thy blood!_ ”

“ **Cyan!** ”

“ _My soul!_ ”

“ _Slumber…_ ”

“ _Thy blood!_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

“ **C-Cerulean!** ”

“ _Slumber…_ ”

“ _Thy blood!_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

“ _Acid…_ ”

_Oh, God! No!_

“ **H-H-H-Hydrangea!** ”

Sig’s strongest spell: Hydrangea. Due to his demonic power, it can cause a massive explosion starting from the spot where it lands on. And since he had the same target we’ve had for a while…

…

…Yeah, you can see why we ran.

 

After the explosion was finally finished, we looked over from the nearest hiding spot to see three things.

One, the dark blue & black void was gone.

Two, so was Miracle Matter.

And three, Sig was passed out face first on the sandy beach floor. Not moving an inch.

“ **SIG!** ” We rushed over to him and brought his face out of the sand. He was knocked out cold, but he was still breathing. Thank God.

“ _Woah. H-He completely destroyed Miracle Matter._ ” Ribbon said in amazement. “ _Th-Th only person I’ve seen do that was Kirby._ ”

“Who?” Klug, Peruvis, and Phoenix asked.

"W-We'll explain later." Adeleine said. "Right now, I think your friend needs some medical care.

“Sig! Hey, Sig! Wake up!” I yelled while shaking his body.

“ ** _*moan*_** _W…Wuffine?_ ”

_He got my name wrong again. But I’ll let it sly this time._

“Sig! Are you okay?!”

“That was some Fever Mode you just did! It was so _cat-tivating_ that we couldn’t stop _meowing_ you on!” Chetta said.

“ _Chetta…_ ”

“ _W…Wuffine. D-Do you think…Chu’s proud of me?_ ”

_I get it now. All of that was triggered by his loss of Chu. This boy…he may be a complete dunce, but he's a really good big bro._

“ ** _*giggle*_** Yeah, Sig. I think Chu’s really proud of you.” I said with a smile.

 

“ _Hmm…intriguing. This “Fever Mode” as they call it…with the Legend mostly a lie, it may be our only option at this point._

_…_

_Well…let’s see what she thinks first._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise attack from Miracle Matter has been foiled. But…at what cost? Chu sacrificed her life to save her big brother. And Sig regrets every moment of it. Now the only thing he could do…is press on without her.
> 
> Okay, now before I get a lot of hate for this, I AM NOT KILLING OFF AN 11-YEAR-OLD! Chu will come back! But I’m not saying how! At least, not yet.
> 
> Had to do a lot of research for this chapter. Character spells, Miracle Matter’s attacks, how Fever chains works and all that. I’ve told you guys this story wears me out sometimes. And to prove it, I’m taking a day off tomorrow. Been writing for like 3-4 days straight.
> 
> Feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.
> 
> Extra Note: I made a list of spells for Peruvis. Some I borrowed from Hed in Champions. So they may look familiar.
> 
> Peruvis’ Spells
> 
> Chain 1 - Darkness Dive  
> Chain 2 - Broken Night  
> Chain 3 - Devil’s Scream  
> Chain 4 - Devil’s Heart  
> Chain 5 - Sweet Memory
> 
> I like it. It fits her character.


	50. Final Family Feud

**Team #3 – Lidelle, Yu & Rei, Chilly, Marx**

When I said that I wanted to go out and help others in need, the others were pretty shocked at me. It’s been a common trend as of late. What with everyone finding out about my future title as the Queen of Hell and just how powerful I actually am. It was supposed to be a secret. But then Ridel happened. And it was the only way to defeat her.

_Geez. Explaining this to Satan and Mother is going to be total hell._

“So, was there any reason why you two wanted to come to Nahe Forest?” I asked Yu & Rei.

“Well…we do live here. We just want to make sure it’s still okay, right Rei?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m honestly shocked that you’re just out here at all, Yu. Y-You know…with how you currently look.”

“Well, this is only temporary. Once we get the last part of my eternal soul, I’ll be back to my normal ghostly self in no time!”

“Yay.” Rei cheered.

…

I-I think.

“Chilly Chilly Chilly Chilly?” Chilly asked the twins how did they die in the first place.

“Uh…I-I rather not talk about it.” Yu said while gaining a sad look on her face.

“No matter. I can just find out using my God powers later on. It’ll be as easy as…”

“ **Don’t you DARE!** ” Yu shouted at Marx with now an angry look.

“Fine, sheesh. You didn’t have to yell.”

“You know, now that I think about it…why did you tag along with me?” I asked.

“What? You’re saying that I can’t take a tour of this place you call Primp? Such discrimination, Lidelle.”

“I feel like that’s not the real reason.”

“You’re good. Anyway, once your true power was revealed and all that, I got extremely curious and interested. I want to see more destruction coming from your hellspawn side. And I want to meet this “Ruler of Hell” that you call brother. Sounds pretty powerful, am I right?”

“Yeah, he is. He isn’t the Ruler of Hell for nothing.”

_He’s also a weirdo, a bit delusional, and a straight up idiot at times. But he’s my brother and I love him._

“Well, anyway…Nahe Forest is looking a bit different from how I remember it. It’s a lot more…relaxing. And green.”

“Probably because this forest got merged with Green Greens, an area in Dream Land.” Marx explained. “Not sure why, though. That place is small compared to others like it.”

“Green Greens…sounds like a nice place.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Yu said. “But I like our spooky haunted graveyard better.”

“Me too.” Rei added.

"Not sure how since you're not a ghost anymore." Marx said.

“Hey! I **WILL** become a ghost again! I’m going to get my eternal soul back and turn back to normal! Just watch me!”

“Again. You don’t have to yell. I’m right here.”

“That’s just how she talks.” I said. “She’s usually super happy. Asking people if she could turn them into ghosts. Even though everyone declines her offer.”

“Woah.”

“I still don’t know why everyone keeps saying no. Being a ghost is super fun and less of a burden. Why is it that people want to stay alive?”

“Yu. The answer is super obvious.” Rei said.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

_This is going to be hard to explain._

 

We eventually gave up on the conversation due to Yu still not understanding why people like me want to stay alive. It was just getting annoying at this point. And it was clear to me that she **_really_** hates being alive.

Which reminds me…

“Hey, Yu. Aren’t you worried that other people will see you as a human?” I asked.

Yu didn’t answer for a bit. And kept silent while gaining a depressed frown on her living breathing face.

“W-Well…I-I am worried that a certain person will see me like this.”

“Really? Who?”

“W-Well, it’s…”

“Huh? Hey! Lidelle!”

“Oh no! That voice! She’s here! Quick! Rei! Chilly! Lie for me!” Yu began to panic.

“Okay.”

“Chilly.”

“Wait, what?! You mean you’re going to have a ghost and a snowman lie for you?!” I asked.

“I can’t face her, Lidelle! I just can’t!”

Yu then ran for the nearest group of trees and bushes to hide from the one person she apparently doesn’t want to see her as she is now.

And that person is…

“Oh. Hello, Jarne.”

"Oh, hey! Rei's back, too! Where's your sister?"

“Out.” Rei said.

“Out where?”

“Somewhere.”

“Do you know where that **_somewhere_** is?”

“No.”

“Chilly.”

…

…

“What’s with the snowman?” Jarne asked.

“His name’s Chilly.” Rei said.

“Chilly?”

“Chilly.”

“He speaks one of those “one word means everything” languages.” I said.

“I see…and the jester?”

“That’s Marx. He’s a universal God of sorts.”

“ _Right…_ ”

“H-Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Marx took offense to that.

“So does these two being here have something to do with the giant black cloud swirling in the sky that’s spitting out those black eye things?”

“Well, they’re from the same world. So I guess.”

“I see…I think I get it now.”

“Do you really, Jarne?”

“No. But I like punching things! So I don’t care either way!”

“I see…” I said with a sweatdrop.

“Anyway…I could’ve sworn I’ve heard Yu’s voice just now. You guys sure she’s not here?”

“Haven’t seen here.” Rei said.

“Chilly.”

 **_*sigh*_ ** _This is getting ridiculous._

“Oh. I see.” Jarne said as she gained a sad look on her face. Almost like she was about to cry.

“Jarne?”

“ _It’s okay. It’s just that you and Yu had disappeared for days and I was worried sick about you both. I’ve even heard rumors that you were kidnapped. Now I see you back so suddenly, but not Yu. My childhood friend. And with all this going on, I’m afraid that I’ll never see her again._

**_*sniff*_ **

_Yu…where are ya, girl?_ ”

I was now starting to hate myself for allowing this to happen. I should just tell her that Yu is hiding behind that tree over there.

…

“H-Hey, Jar-” And I was about to. When…

“Jarne.”

We looked over to see Yu coming out of her hiding spot and walking over towards us. The hood of her jacket was hiding her face. But it became visible once she got face-to-face with Jarne.

As in, she took the hood off.

“ **Y…Yu?! Wh-What happened to you?!** ” Jarne shouted in total shock.

“Well…you were kinda right about the kidnapped part. Only I was kidnapped and my eternal soul was stolen by a “somewhat remorseful” clone of Amitie. I’m in the process of getting it back, but I didn’t want you to see me like this. It just…brought back too many dark memories.”

“You still haven’t let those memories go, have you?”

“No. You know it’s not an easy thing to do. Especially with what I went through during my final hours.”

Yu looked like she was about to cry. That’s when Jarne wrapped her arms around her human best friend and tighten her in a hug.

“Yeah, girl. I know.”

“ ** _*sniff*_** Geez. It’s like one of those feel-good movies.”

“Are you actually crying?” Rei asked Marx.

“N-No! I-I’m not crying! I never cry! I’m a universal God, for crying out loud!”

“Chilly.”

“ **Pfft! Baaahahahahaha! Oh my God, Chilly!** ” I broke down laughing.

“ _What did he say?_ ” Marx asked. Looking very upset.

“N-Nothing. you wouldn’t like it anyway.”

“ ** _*groan*_** ”

It was very inappropriate, but still really funny.

 

With Jarne now a part of our group, we continued making our way through Green Nahe Forest (that’s what I’m calling it) looking for any more people in need. While doing so, Yu gave Jarne a quick explanation on why this nightmare-ish event was happening. She seemed to understand it better than last time. Maybe it was because it was Yu telling her this. The two are best friends, after all.

“ _Oh._ So that’s what’s going on. Well, I’m happy to help! My djinn powers will knock these black eye things back where ever they came from! **Ja-ja-ja-jaan!** ” Jarne shouted with glee.

“Cheerful as usual, I see.” Yu said.

“Well, I’m extra cheerful now since you came back.”

“I see.”

“So where are we, exactly?” Marx asked me.

"Right now, we're at Primp Town Park. Which is usually near the forest. Not sure if this Green Greens place had any effect on…"

“ _Found you!_ ”

…

“Wh-What was that?” Jarne asked.

“I-I don’t know. But for some reason, it sounds really…”

***SLASH***

“Lidelle!”

“Chilly!”

The others shouted as I was thrown across the park by a huge swipe at my body. I was in so much pain. And I can feel blood pouring out of the giant scars on the left side of my stomach.

“ _Wh-Where…did that come from?_ ” I asked as I slowly got up from the ground. That’s when I saw it. The thing that had just hit me.

Or really…I saw _her_.

“ **Ridel!** ”

“ _Surprise! Are you shocked to see me again? I told you I’ll be back! And I’m keeping my promise, too! ***giggle***_ ”

“Tch. You’ve got some nerve. Being a part of this.”

“ _Boo-boo! Incorrect! I have no part of this chaos caused by this Zero thing. I just took the opportunity once the worlds started fusing together and escaped from that hellhole. Literally. ***giggle***_ ”

“Hmph. Either way, you’re still an evil psychopath.”

“ _Say all you want, crybaby. It’s not going to stop me from commencing my own little Armageddon on this already doomed world. Or should I say “worlds”? **Nyahahahaha! It’s like two annihilations for the satisfaction of one! *giggle***_ ”

“ _You wouldn’t dare…_ ” I said in a threatening tone.

“ _Oh, I dare! And I’m gonna start by doing something that should’ve been done the last time! **FINNISH! YOU! OFF!**_ ” Ridel then did the gestor of being decapitated as an added bonus of her sadistic threat.

_Tch. Sh-She just doesn’t learn…_

Ridel then placed her left hand in front of my aching self. It glowing black as it was gaining more and more power.

“ **Lidelle!** ” Yu and Jarne yelled as they tried to run towards me. But Marx was able to stop them.

“ **Are you two crazy?! You’re going to be next if you go over there!** ” He yelled.

“ **But what about Lidelle, huh?! What are going to do about her?!** ”

…

Marx didn’t answer. As he knew (and so did I) that it was unlikely that I would escape out of this one alive.

“ ** _Nyahahahaha!_** ** _I can’t wait to see how the Depths of Hell treats ya, Lidelle Namanari!_** ** _Monocro-_** ”

“ **Disaster!** ”

***BOOM***

“ ** _*cough* *cough*_** _Wh-What the?!_ ”

_Th-That spell. That power. It can’t be…_

As the smoke began to clear up, a tall figure showed up in between me and Ridel. I can tell from the long green hair, big wings, and the stance as a whole that I knew who it was.

And I was truly happy to see this person.

“ **S…Satan!** ”

“Lidelle. Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah. I’m okay. Thanks to you.”

Satan chuckled a bit as he gained a small smile on his face.

“Well. At least that’s the concern gone. Now for the nuisance.” He then turned to face his little sister’s evil clone.

“So you’re this Ridel Honnari I’ve heard so much about. You’ve caused so much trouble both in and above Hell. You really are such a pain.”

“ _Tch. Onee-sama. How could you say that about your own dear little sister? I’m only just a kid, you know. ***giggle***_ ”

“Hmph. What an immature brat you are. Such behavior must be punished.” Satan then raised up his hand pointed it at Ridel as it slowly gained power.

"You may look identical to Lidelle, but that doesn't mean I won't hold back on you. You'll know your place."

“ ** _*giggle*_** _As if I want you to hold back, Onee-sama._ ” Ridel said with a demented smile on her face as she started gaining power of her own.

This was going to be one intense battle.

 

“ **Disaster!** ”

“ ** _Raffiche_** ** _!_** ”

The two fired their attacks at each other. Both colliding with and destroying each other. Once the smoke had cleared, Ridel had flown up to the sky. With Satan following in hot pursuit.

“ **Juggernaut!** ”

“ ** _Mulinello!_** ”

“ **Catastrophe!** ”

“ ** _Ciclone!_** ”

“ **Cataclysm!** ”

“ ** _Fulmine!_** ”

No matter what attack they used, it always had the same result as the first one. They both kept spamming attack after attack. Ending with a massive explosion and a lot of smoke. Both Satan and Ridel looked like they starting to get weaker. Which to me is shocking on both sides.

_They’re both equally matched. And I thought Ridel was stronger because of the eternal soul part. But she really is stronger than me._

“ **Hey! Lidelle!** ” I heard Yu call out as the group ran up to me.

“G-Guys. I’m okay, really.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t call having giant bleeding scars on your stomach okay.” Jarne said.

“They’re not life-threating. Ridel didn’t go deep enough for that.”

“Who is Ridel, anyway?”

“Well…” Yu said. “You know how I said that a clone of Amitie kidnapped me and stole my eternal soul?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she used it to create clones of Raffina, Ringo, Arle, and…” Yu then pointed up towards Ridel. Which made Jarne understand completely.

“ _Whoa…_ so that’s Lidelle’s clone?”

“Sure is.” I said.

“And right now, a heated battle is happening with her and her brother! The Ruler of Hell! never have I’ve seen such power before in my lives! It’s so satisfying!”

_Lives?_

I didn’t bother asking Marx what he meant by that. Because something in the back of my mind was telling me that I don’t want to know.

“ ** _Elettromagnetismo!_** " Ridel had cast an attack that was completely surprising to me.

_I’ve never been able to use that spell! How did she do it so easily?!_

That spell…Elettromagnetismo. It’s a powerful spell that I’ve been trying to master for most of my life. It lets you control electrical currents and (if done right) completely paralyzes your opponent. To the point where they can’t move for a set amount of time. Depending on how powerful the spell is.

And judging on how Satan fell to the ground next to us in an immobile state, it was extremely powerful.

“ **Satan!** ” I yelled.

“ _I…Impossible! Such power inside a mere clone of my little sister is…this... cannot be...!_ " Satan tried to get up. But like I said, the spell makes you paralyzed for a while.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Not even the Ruler of Hell can beat me! I’m too damn powerful for you both! And now…it’s time._ ”

Ridel raised both arms in the air as a giant black sphere started forming above her head.

“ _Now it’s time I **FINALLY killed you both! And with your friends as a bonus, too! Enjoy endless suffering, Namanari! Nyahahahaha!**_ ”

“ _Tch. It…It can’t end like this…_ " I honestly thought this was the end for us. Not being killed by Zero, but by my own evil clone. I was lucky to get out alive the first time. But now. It just seems like there's no hope.

 _I’m sorry…everyone._  

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Here we go. Time to die._ ** _Mo-no-cro-ma-ti-co…_** ”

“ **Satan Cross!** ”

***CLANG***

“ ** _Wh-What the?!_** ”

Suddenly, a huge dark chain came out of nowhere and wrapped Ridel tightly around her body. And in mere second after that, slammed her to the ground. She was unable to move. And it looked like she was in pain, too. As she started shedding tears.

“ _Wha…What is this? Who did this to me? It hurts!_ ” She whined.

“Think of it as punishment for the damage you’ve caused.”

_Wait. That voice…It can’t be!_

That’s when the owner of the voice made her appearance. And both Satan and I were completely shocked to see her.

“M… **Mother?!** ”

"Hello, you two. I see that you've had a … _interesting_ time while being away huh, Lidelle?”

“Y-Yeah…you can say that.” I said. Still confused on one, why is Mother out here in this doomsday. And two, what did she just do.

“ _Grr…damnit, Mother…_ ” Ridel said. Still wrapped in the chain.

“Hmm…Ridel Honnari. You have a lot of nerve trying to kill my children. I think lifetime imprisonment in the deepest parts of Hell would be the perfect punishment for you. Don’t you agree?”

“ _No!_ ”

“Well, too bad. I’m your mother. You don’t get a say. Now… **Begone!** ”

With just that simple word, Mother’s chains began to glow. And a black magic circle appeared underneath Ridel. Slowly pulling her down to the depths of Hell yet again after losing another battle.

“ _No! This isn't fair! Impossible, even! Why do I keep losing to you people?! Well, no matter! I'll be back, Namanari! Do you hear me?! I won't stop until I have all three of your corpses in my grasps! **YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LAST OF ME!!!!!!!**_ ”

The circle closed off with Ridel saying her last threat to us. The chain the disappeared into Mother’s right hand as she stood there with a proud look on her face.

…

…

“ _Woah._ ” Marx said. Breaking the mildly long silence.

“M-Mother…wh-what was that?” I asked.

“Well…it’s a spell your father taught me before he passed. He told me to only use it for emergencies like this. Although, I never thought I would ever use it. today seemed to change all that, though.”

"Th-That was…Satan Cross, wasn't it? Dad would never teach me that no matter how much I asked." Satan said.

“Probably because he knew you would use it to surround yourself with ladies in bikinis, Satan.”

“N-No I wouldn’t!”

“Oh, please.” I added. “We both know you would’ve used to either do that or forced Arle to marry you.”

…

“Or both.”

“Hmph. Whatever.” Satan said as he got up from the ground. The Elettromagnetismo Spell wearing off once Ridel was sealed off to Hell.

“What you even doing out here, Mother? It’s super dangerous.” I said.

“I’ve heard everything from Melody-senpai. She said something about a legend and other-worlders and stuff like that. So I came out to help out a little.”

“I see. Well, thank you so much, Mother. You’ve saved our lives.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Isn’t that what a mother’s supposed to do?” Mother teased a little.

“Woah! Yumi! What you just did was so totally awesome!”

“Why, thank you, uh…Yu? What happened to you?”

***RUMBLE***

…

“I-It’s a long story. I’ll explain to you along the way. Right now, we need to…”

“Stop this fallen angel from destroying our world?” Mother cut me off. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it. You can count on me, Sweetie.”

“I suppose I’ll tag along as well. Some extra power from the Ruler of Hell wouldn’t hurt. _Fuhahahahaha!_ ” Satan added with an evil-like laugh.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Thank you both. Now. Let’s see if we can meet up with the others.” I said.

We then made our way out of the park back through the forest. As it was the only way out. Continuing our quest to save our worlds from mass destruction.

 **_*giggle*_ ** _It’s all in a day’s work for the future Queen of Hell._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goddamn, 50 chapters…I honestly don’t know what to say about this. It’s just a thing that I managed to do.
> 
> I hope this makes it clear that Ridel is the main antagonist for stories like this in the future. Not crossovers, but stories that involve end-of-world situations like this. So yeah, she will be back. Not sure when, though.
> 
> Feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. Thanks for reading. Later.


	51. Rescuing A Friend

**Team #4 – Arle, Ringo, Bandanna-Dee, Daroach**

“Hey, Ringo. Was it really a good idea to leave Cherri back on the ship?”

“At least it should be okay. I mean, Raina’s with her.”

“Yeah…but Raina isn’t really that much smarter than Cherri.”

Ringo went silent for a bit as I told her what I honestly think of Raina and Cherri. I don’t dislike them. But they really are idiots.

“True…but Raina is aware of what’s going on. And can easily explain it to Cherri so that we don’t get a headache.”

“That…is a good point.”

Before we left the ship, I had formed a team with Ringo helping me out. Bandanna-Dee and Daroach offered to help as well. So they came along with us. Maguro went to see if he could find Risukuma in all this madness. So it just left the four of us.

…

Well…five. Ringo brought someone that she didn’t trust leaving alone.

“ _Aw. You didn’t have to bring me along, Ringie. I could’ve done it myself._ ”

“Like hell I’m going to believe that, Ecolo.”

_And I don’t blame her._

“What? Do you really think I would do something during all of this?”

“Yes!” We both yelled.

“What makes you think that?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Ecolo. Maybe it’s because you tried to bury my school with puyos that one time.” Ringo said.

“And used my body to do so.” I added.

“And let’s not forget the time you tried to make everyone’s wishes come true.”

“That was good, wasn’t it?”

“Like we said, Ecolo. There are just some wishes that should **NEVER** come true.” I said.

“You still haven’t explained what those wishes are.”

_Ugh._

“ _You really are a questionable thing._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Trust us, Bandanna-Dee. Arle, Am, and I deal with his questionability on a regular bases.” Ringo said.

“And it’s a struggle, too.” I added.

“You’re welcome. **_*giggle*_** ” Ecolo said.

_This guy…_

“This Primp world really is an interesting place.” Daroach said. “Wonder if I could find some treasure once this whole Zero thing blows over.”

"Well, there are endless puyo towers up ahead. We usually go there to find all kinds of stuff. And every 10 floors is a checkpoint. Which we can decide to keep what we found from the floors below." I explained.

“Hmm…interesting indeed. You don’t mind taking me to one of these towers, do you Arle?”

“Sure, Daroach. I’ve been looking for someone to tag-team with for a while now. It’s going to be so awesome!”

“Yes. indeed, it will.”

“You sure you don’t want to tag along, Ringo?” I asked her.

“Um…no thanks, Arle. I’m good.”

“Still afraid of the dark, Ringie?” Ecolo asked.

“N-No! I-I just…Wh-Who asked you, anyway?!” Ringo began to blush out of embarrassment. Which made Ecolo laugh.

For our part in this rescue mission, our group decided to head for the Ruins Area of Primp. Based on what Bandanna-Dee had told us, this area had fused with Radish Ruins. And honestly, that place was a bit scary to me. The ruined castle-like maze reminded me too much of my journeys as a mere 5-year-old. How I would go to places like these and experience what no other 5-year-old girl should go through. They were just pure nightmare fuel. I still get ones based on what Mamono did to me.

_And it serves him right that he’s nothing but a pathetic lonely bird-thing now._

I may have grown a lot since those times, but those memories still haunt me every so often. And Shadow Arle is making me relive those horrible times even more than normal.

Which is why I want to defeat her. To rid her from existence. I know it may sound harsh, but I can’t live in that endless loop of fear again. It ruined my childhood. And I’m not gonna let it end the rest of my life, too.

…

…

_But…I just wish Carby was here to do it with me._

 

We continued exploring the (Radish) ruins of Primp looking anyone that had an untimely encounter with any of these black eyeballs that are flying around.

“Gee. With this place fused with Radish Ruins, our ruins look even creepier than before.” Ringo said.

“Don’t worry, Ringo. I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you from any danger out here.” I said to her with a serious smile. Which made Ringo blush a little.

“Th-Thanks…Arle.”

“ _Ooh…_ something’s blooming around here. **_*giggle*_** ” Ecolo teased.

“Wh-What are you blabbing about now?”

“Nothing. It just seems like you and Arle have gotten really close, Ringie. **_Special_** bond or something?”

“Wh-Wh… **Just what are you implying?! There’s nothing special going on!** ”

“ **Y-Yeah! N-Nothing! W-We’re just looking out for each other, that all!** ” I added.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Really?_ ”

“ **Yes, really!** ”

“ **What part are you not understanding?!** ” Ringo yelled.

“ _The fact that the both of you are blushing really hard right now._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“ **D-Dee, don’t help him!** ”

“Aw, don’t worry, girls. Nothing wrong with being together like that. just don’t do anything dirty, okay? I know how you’re at that age. **_*giggle*_** ”

“ _Tch. Ecolo…_ ”

“ _For the last time…_ ” I said.

“ **IT’S NOTHING LIKE THAT!!!** ” We both shouted as loud as we could to get the point across.

“ _Hmm…alright. If you girls “say” so. ***giggle***_ ” Ecolo said before disappearing away from us. We didn’t even care that he left. We were just glad that he was gone and could quit making such an accusation.

_Honestly. He’s a bigger pain than Schezo and Satan combined._

“He sure is an interesting one.” Daroach said.

“ _Real questionable, too._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

The two of us just sighed out of exhaustion as a response.

 

It wasn’t long after Ecolo ditched us that we were at the end of the path the ruins had. We were standing on a hard concrete floor circled by the pillars we saw back in Radish Ruins. It looked almost like an…arena of sorts. And if it wasn’t weird enough, the grass the ruins usually had was now started to be replaced with sand. And with the oddly night sky over it all, it was starting to look familiar.

“H-Hey…guys. I-Isn’t this…Sand Canyon?” Ringo asked.

“Looks like it.” Daroach said. “This area must’ve gotten two areas fused with it.

“ _This is bizarre._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“So it’s Primp Ruins, Radish Ruins, and Sand Canyon fused together? This is really…”

***SLAM***

“Gah! Wh-What the…”

I was suddenly tackled down to the now sandy ground and was pinned down hard. Not **_really_** hard. Because I was able to squirm around to attempt an escape.

“ **Gao! Gotcha, Arle! Prepare for ultimate payback!** ”

_Wait. That voice…_

“Dr-Draco?! Wh-What you doing?! Get off me!”

“ **You honestly think I’m gonna fall for that again?! I won’t be made a fool twice! Especially by someone who I thought was my friend!** ”

“Wh-What you talking about?! I didn’t even do anything!”

“Draco, stop! Arle’s telling the truth!” Ringo shouted while trying to get Draco off me.

“ **Ringo?! So you’re a part of this, too?!** ”

“A part of what?! You’re not making any sense!”

“Draco, wait!” We heard a second voice approach us. This voice belonged to the young guardian girl known as Chico. “Look for a second! I really do think this is the real Arle!”

“Huh? The real one?” Draco then took a good look at me and then realized that Chico was right. “Oh! Arle, it is you! Where’ve you been?”

“Draco. I would tell you… **but would you PLEASE get off me, first?!** ” I yelled.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Once Draco finally got off me, I was helped up by Ringo and calmed down enough to talk to these two.

“So what were you- **GAK!** ”

Or…so I thought.

“ **Arle! It really is you! I thought you were really trying to kill us!** **WAAAAAAAA!** ”

“ ** _*sniff*_** _I-I thought…y-you were hated us for reason. Y-You were all scary ***sniff*** a-and stuff. I-I was ***sniff*** sc-scared for my * **sniff*** l-life._ ”

Currently hugging me and crying in my ears were Harpy and Seriri. Both looked like they were scared and dramatized. And when I finally got free of their grasps, I saw that they each had bruises on their bodies. Some were worse than others.

“G-Guys. Wh-What happened to you?” I asked.

“H-How did you get those bruises?” Ringo asked.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _I-It was horrible._ ” Seriri said while still crying. “ _H-Harpy and I were having fun together when we saw you up ahead. W-We tried calling for you, b-but you didn’t respond._ ”

“ _Th-Th-That’s when you disappeared from in front of us. A-A-And then you came back…a-a-and started hitting us._ ” Harpy said. Also still crying.

“H…Hitting you guys?”

“ _Y-You kept punching and kicking us. It hurt really really badly._ ”

“ _W-We begged you to stop. B-But you kept laughing at us. Saying mean thing to us as you kept beating us up. Really mean things. A-A bunch of swear words, too._ ” Seriri continued.

_No way…_

“It was around that time that Draco and I found you guys. And tried to fight back.” Chico said. “But you were too strong. You defected my spells and threw Draco off like it was nothing. It was then I quickly realized that whatever that Arle was, it wasn’t you.”

“ _Arle. You don’t think it’s her, do you?_ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“Yeah, Dee. It does sound like her.” I said.

“Wait, you actually know this fake Arle? And who are these two with you? Are they with this killer you? I’m so confused!” Draco yelled.

“Draco, calm down. Look, it’s a long story. But to sum it up…us two, a few of the others, and people from a different world are tried to stop a fallen angel from destroying each of our worlds. And this other Arle is helping it do so.”

“ _Woah…_ ” Three of the four girls said.

“A fallen angel? **_*moan*_** _Those things are super duper mean! They bullied me a lot when I was younger!_ ” Harpy whined. Growing angry in the process.

“I-It’s a different kind of fallen angel, Harpy.”

“By the way, I’m quite curious. If you guys now know the Arle you encountered was fake, what made you think she was the real deal?” Ringo asked.

The four looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. I guess they really had to think about it. Well, I mean...other than Chico, this group of girls aren't really that bright.

“Well…we kinda assumed it was you because Carbuncle was with you.” Harpy said.

“ **Wh-Wh-WHAAAAAT?! C-CARBY’S WITH HER?!** ” I shouted in shock. “Who is this…Carbuncle?” Daroach asked.

“He’s Arle’s #1 companion. The two would go everywhere together and are the best of friends. But before we left for Dream Land, the two basically had a fight about Kirby and being cute. And she ended up leaving without him.” Ringo explained.

“Oh. I see.”

“You guys sure it was Carby?” I asked.

“Positive.” Draco said.

“A-Although, now that I think about it…” Seriri said. “H-He did look really scary as well. H-His eyes were completely white and he had this creepy-looking symbol on his stomach.”

“And his gu’s sounded all distorted like. Like he was possessed or something.” Chico added.

“ _No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! It…can’t be. Sh-She… ***sniff*** she stole Carby from me. After I basically ditched him like that. I feel so horrible._ ”

“Arle…Arle, come on. It’s not your fault.” Ringo tried to comfort me.

“ _Ringie’s right, my precious little kitten. This has nothing to do with you._ ”

“Oh no. That voice. She’s here.”

“ ** _*screams of total fear*_ RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!** ” Harpy and Seriri ran for safety as they now fear my clone for what she did to them.

The rest of us watched as Shadow Arle appeared from nowhere and stood on one of the pillars in front of us. She still had that same demented smile she had when we first saw her. But was different about her was what she was holding in her hands. Someone I cared about so much. And was near and dear to my heart.

“C… **Carby!** ”

“ _Oh? So he really is yours? I knew he had to be. He has your scent. Your sweet delicious scent. I couldn't get enough of it. I wanted it all. So I ripped his soul out and made him a mindless slave. He may have forgotten who you are, but it was a sacrifice .that to happen. To get closer to you, my precious little kitten. ***giggle***_ ”

“Wh-Whoa. Sh-She’s a lot scarier now that I know she’s a fake.” Draco said.

“A-And her speech. W-With the distorted voice, it sounds so… _naughty._ ” Chico said while blushing a bit.

“Why did you do that to Carbuncle?!” Ringo yelled.

“ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** _All of my deeds. Weather by my own choice or commanded by my master Zero. Is all to get closer to my precious kitten. My love for her is so damn great, that I’m willing to do anything to make her mine. Even if it means destroying universes for no apparent reason, I’ll do anything for you, Arle-sama!_ ”

“This way of thinking is truly unreasonable. You can’t seriously believe this is the way.” Daroach said.

“ _You **DARE** defy my love for Arle-sama? I’ll make you pay with your life for that._ ”

“ _No, he has a point. Assaulting, killing, and taking people’s souls is not how you get someone to love you._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“ _You too, Pudgy? I’ll make you…do…something with those words. I’m not sure yet since you don’t have a mouth._ ”

“ **Don’t you see what you’re doing is wrong?!** ” Ringo shouted. “ **Zero is just using you! It doesn’t care what you want! It just wants to kill us all!** ”

“ _No! No, I refuse to believe that! Master Zero would never do that to me! It knows how much I love Arle-sama! And if none of you want to believe it, then you can all die with the rest of these universes! Right, Carby?_ ”

“ _Guu…_ ”

_Oh, God. Carby’s voice. It…It sounds so…empty. Like there’s nothing there anymore. If this is what she did to my Carby…my Kaa-kun…my Carbuncle…_

_…_

_No. I must save him. I gotta! And I will!_

“ **Hey! Shadow Arle!** ”

“ _Hmm? Yes, my precious little kitten?_ ”

“ **You and me! Right now! Let’s have a Puyo battle! But with some requirements added to it!** ”

“ _If it’s from you, Arle-sama, then I’m all ears. ***giggle***_ ”

_Yuck. That “Arle-sama” thing is so hard to get used to…_

“First off, it’ll be a simple Tsu-rule match! First to have their board filled completely loses!”

“Interesting way of play.” Daroach said.

“Second, it’ll be one-one! You and me! Nobody else!”

“Whoa! I’ve never seen Arle so serious before!” Draco yelled.

“Not even when dealing with Satan.” Chico added.

“And third! If I win, I want my Carby back! You hear?!”

“ _Oh, I hear. But what if I win, Arle-sama? What do I get?_ ”

**_*sigh*_ ** _Here it goes. What I’ve been planning. I hope this works._

“If you win…th-then I’ll become your lover.”

“ **WHAT?!** ” Everyone shouted. With Bandanna-Dee panicking.

“ ** _Really?! You’ll do that for me, Arle-sama?!_** ”

“ **A-Arle?! Wh-What are you thinking?!** ” Ringo shouted as she grabbed hold of me.

“Trust me, Ringo. I know what I’m doing. Remember when I said that I didn’t see my true feelings inside of her? Well, this is what I mean. I’m gonna use her romantic feelings for me against her. If I can weaken her by doing this, I’ll beat her. And save Carby in the process. I just need you to cheer me on, okay? Can you do that for me, Ringo? Please?”

Ringo looked unsure of it all. The fact that I made such a bargain was still a shock to her. I know that she cares for me a lot. And I feel the same way for her.

_Y-You could even say that I…n-never mind._

Ringo then grew a smile on her face as she gave me a good luck hug. With me returning the hug with gratitude as I took one last glance at my fallen angel clone and my soulless best friend.

“So. Is it a deal then?” I asked her.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _As you wish, my pretty little kitten. You don’t know how much this makes me happy. Don’t you agree, Carby?_ ”

“ _Guu…_ ” My empty soul friend said.

“Alright. Then here we go. _Let’s…_ ”

Shadow Arle sprouted her wings and flew down to the arena-like floor. Face-to-face with me while holding Carby in her arms.

“ ** _Puyo Battle! *creepy demented giggle*_** ”

 

**BOSS: Vs. Shadow Arle**

The most important battle of my life began once I grabbed the first set of puyo and began stacking. I had to beat her and rescue Carby. I don’t know what I would do if Carby was like that forever. And to be Shadow Arle…a-and me being…h-her lover…

…

_Gah! Focus, Arle! You’ve got better things to do than to think of that right now!_

“ _What’s the matter, Arle-sama? Excited that you’ll be my lover in a few minutes? ***giggle***_ ”

“A-As if!” I yelled at my clone as I continued building up a reasonable chain to start with.

 “ **Fire!** ”

“ **Ice Storm!** ”

Unfortunately, I was able to make a 3-chain. Not my best at all. I've got so many nerves inside of me. Not only is something huge is at stake, but Shadow Arle is still holding Carby in her hands. I can't go full throttle or else I might hurt him.

So basically, the odds are **NOT** in my favor.

“ ** _*giggle*_** _That was really cute, Arle-sama. Wanna see mine?_ ”

_How was that cute?!_

“Honestly, no. But you’re gonna show me anyways, huh?”

Shadow Arle continued giggling as she set off her own puyo chain.

 “ ** _Blaze!_** ”

“ ** _Hail Storm!_** ”

“ ** _Lightning!_** ”

Which, in case you couldn’t tell, was bigger than mine.

“Gah!” I was pelted with a bunch of nuisance puyo as I couldn’t counter it in time. It filled ¼ of my board. Putting me in a losing position.

“ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** _My special gift to you, my precious little kitten._ ” Shadow Arle taunted.

…

Well…at least I think she did. She’s so much in love with me that I don’t think she can be cruel to me.

Which is why I have to wait a little longer.

I continued playing by starting over from the nuisance puyo that filled my board. I was still cautious about hitting Carby, but it doesn’t seem like he can do anything. The pure white eyes he had made him look dead. But at least he isn’t.

_Hold on, Carby! I’m coming! I just need to wait for the right moment!_

“ _Arle-sama! I'm finished! My new chain wall will bury you in nuisance puyo and you'll be all mine! Isn't that great, Carby?!_ ** _*giggle*_** ”

“ _Guu…_ ”

_Damn. That looks big. I hate how short Tsu matches can be. I’ll just have to get this over with now._

I sat there and watched as Shadow Arle set off her chain of puyo and started gaining power. With my fists clutched together as I started them down.

“ ** _Blaze!_** ”

“ ** _Hail Storm!_** ”

“Uh…hey, Arle! Now would be a good time to fight back!” Chico yelled.

“ ** _Lightning!_** ”

“ ** _Diamond Cutie!_** ”

“Why is she just standing there?” Daroach asked.

“Maybe not having Carbuncle makes her stupid.” Draco said.

_Note to self: Punch Draco in the face for that remark later._

“ ** _Mental Meltdown!_** ”

“ ** _Heaven Ray!_** ”

“Arle…” I heard Ringo say.

_Ringo…forgive me for what I’m about to say._

“ ** _*giggle*_** _Here it comes, my precious little kitten. The best and only present you’ll ever get._ ** _*creepy demented giggle*_** ”

“Hey! Shadow Arle!”

“ _Hm?_ ”

“Before you pelt me to oblivion, I…I just want you to know… **THAT I LOVE YOU!!!** ”

“ **WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!** ” Everyone shouted. And I mean everyone. Including Harpy and Seriri who were watching the fight from their hiding spot.

And even Shadow Arle.

“ _Wh-Wh…What? Y-You…You really love me?_ ”

“Yes. I do. With all my heart.”

“A…Arle…” Ringo said.

“Wow, Arle. I didn’t think you were into the freaky stuff. Good for you for being a freak.” Draco said with a thumb’s up

_Second note to self: Punch Draco **really** hard for that remark._

“ _I…I…I don’t know what to say. I-I don’t know what to do! I don’t know how to feel! What is…g-going on?!_ ”

As Shadow Arle began questioning herself, she started glowing a really dark light. It covered her entire body as it got bigger, darker, and more powerful.

“ _Gah! I can’t…I can’t… **NOOOOOOO!!! I CAN’T DO IT!!!**_ ”

Shadow Arle then exploded in the big dark light. Falling down to the hard ground below and losing grip of Carby in the process.

“ **Carby!** ” I rushed over to where he was going to land and caught him before he had the same fate as my fallen angel clone.

_Carby. We’re finally together again. I’m glad._

 

“ _G…Guu?_ ”

“C-Carby! A-Are you okay?! A-Are you hurt?!”

“G-Guu? Gugugu.”

“Carby! I’m glad you’re okay!” I yelled in pure joy as I hugged my best buddy.

“Gugu?! Gugugugu?!”

“Th-That was a clone of me.”

“Gugu?”

“Yeah. Another one. Although, this one’s a lot different.”

“Gugu?”

“ _Well…_ ”

“Arle!”

I turned to see Ringo and the others rush over to me. Some were in a panic. Well, mainly one.

“Arle! Are you okay?”

“Look, Ringo! Carby’s back to his normal self! Isn’t that great?!” I cheered.

“Gugugu!”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Arle…I-I…_ ”

“Wow, Arle.” Ecolo said as he appeared out of nowhere and interrupted Ringo. “To think you can be that conniving. Wish I knew that when I possessed your body back then. _***giggle***_ ”

“Shut up, Ecolo.”

“ _A…Arle…sama…_ ” We all then looked at my clone, who was struggling to stand after that explosion.

That explosion was something I learned from Ms. Accord one day. Apparently, if you build up enough power while playing Puyo and you don’t use it, it’ll cause you to overload. And the excessive storage of magic will make you explode. There’s a chance of you dying from it. But it’s really low. The most injuries you’ll get is a bunch of bruises and maybe some internal ones.

…

Yeah. That’s right. I didn’t want to kill her.

“Hey. Listen. There’s something I gotta tell you…”

***BOOM***

“Wh-What was that?!” Chico asked.

“Uh…everyone.” Daroach said as he pointed up to the black cloudy sky above us. Out from it came more of those black eye things. And their eyes started to glow a dark red color. Almost like…the color of blood.

“ _That…does not look good._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“Everybody… **RUN FOR IT!!!!!** ” Draco shouted as she, Chico, Harpy, and Seriri began running away. The latter two crying in fear as they did so. Ecolo and Daroach flew away as fast as they could. And us four were about to chase after them.

But then the eyes got in front of my way and were firing at me. Blocking my chance of escape. It was then made clear to me that I was their target.

“Arle!” Ringo shouted.

“ _Cr-Crap._ Carby! Go on without me!”

“Gu?!”

“I know it sounds selfish, but I would rather for you to stay alive than for us to die together. Carby, I’m sorry I completely ignored you over Kirby. I was an idiot for acting that way. You’re my one and only cute creature for me. And now…as my greatest apology…I want you to live on. **_*sniff*_** _W-Without me._ ”

“ **Gu! Gugu! Gugu!** ”

“ _Don’t try to change my mind! I’ve made up my mind!_ **Ringo! Catch!** ”

“ **Wh-What?!** ”

I threw Carby over to Ringo and she caught him with both arms. Holding him tight.

“ _Take Carby and leave! Now! Save yourselves!_ ”

“ **Arle! You can’t be serious!** ”

Bandanna-Dee even tried to attack the eyes to get them away from me. But the spears he threw were no effect at all. All of the eyes were still locked on me. All set to kill me.

One of the eyes then spouted a black sword from its eye. It looked extremely sharp. With its edges looking uneven all over. And it had a dark black glow around it, as well.

**_*gulp*_ ** _So this is how I go, huh? Whether back in my world or here in Primp, my cause of death was going to be dark none the less._

The eye then charged at me. Preparing to strike me with the sword coming from itself. This was it. There was no escape. Like many times before in my childhood, I was prepared to die.

“ **ARLE!** ”

“ **GUU!** ”

_Goodbye…everyone. It was a blast being with you all. Especially you, Ringo. You were the most caring of them all. My only regret was…_

_…_

_Not telling you the truth._

***SLASH***

It wasn’t long before I heard a big slash. And I knew my life had ended.

…

…

…

…

…

Or…it didn’t?

I opened my eyes and saw something I didn’t expect. I was still alive, for one. But someone else was standing in front of me.

“Sh…Shadow Arle?!”

“ _N-No one…No one hurts my Arle-sama. ***bleck***_ ” I watched as she puked up blood from the massive cut through her stomach. And with that and the bruises from earlier, she was barely able to stand.

“H-Hey! Wh-What are you…”

“ _A-Arle-sama…please. L-Leave this place. Pl-Please save yourself._ ”

“B-But I…”

“ **Permutation!** ”

“ **Gu guu guu!** ”

Ringo, Carby, and Bandanna-Dee were busy once again fighting the black eyes. And defeated every last one except the one with the sword, which flew off once it realized it was all alone.

“Arle! Are you okay?!” Ringo yelled.

“G-Guys, I…”

“ _A-Arle…sama. Pl-Please leave._ ” Shadow Arle said.

“B-But…”

“ _Zero…i-it sees you as a threat now. I-It won’t stop…u-until you’re dead along with the Star Warrior and the Light Soul. Y…Y-You need to leave…b-before it sends more eyes to kill you. ***bleck***_ ” She just puked more blood.

“B-But…wh-what I said earlier…”

“ _I knew…I knew it was…a-a lie._ ”

“Y-You did?!”

“ _The fact that you would play with my romantic feelings for you just so…y-you could save Carby from me. I-It’s stuff like that…how you’re so caring…is what made me fall for you. Despite being made from your DNA and personality. ***bleck* *cough* *cough***_ ”

_Damnit, girl. Now you’re making me feel even more guilty._

“ _This is the end for me, Arle-sama. I’m sorry for causing so much trouble. Tell Ribbon…I deeply apologize for what I did to her home. I really am a monster._ ”

“Hey! Don’t say stuff like that! Don’t just quit on me! I mean, you’re **ME!** You’re not supposed to quit!”

***BOOM* *CRASH***

“ _A-Arle! We better get out of here!_ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote.

“Dee’s right, Arle!” Ringo said.

“Gu!”

“B-But…”

“ _Goodbye…my love. Please…help your friends. Defeat Zero. Save your worlds. That's my one last wish…_ ” These were Shadow Arle’s last words before she closed her eyes…

…And died from her injuries.

“ **NOOOOO!!!** ”

***BOOM* *CRASH***

“ **Arle! We gotta go! Now!** ” Ringo shouted.

…

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Damnit!_ ”

I got up from the ground and followed the others away from the ruins before more of those eyes could show up. While doing so, I looked back at my clone’s dead body. And tried not to shed any tears.

**_*sniff*_ ** _Sh-Shadow Arle. The one and only doppelgänger…_

_…_

_That I don’t hate._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After destroying Ripple Star, killing its residents and destroying its power source. And taking Carbuncle's soul, Shadow Arle does the unthinkable. She sacrifices her life to save Arle's. And gives her the chance to escape Zero's now maxed-out rage. Arle feels nothing but tremendous guilt for it all. As both of them had the same goal in mind. 
> 
> I know I’ve said numerous times that this story is long. But to prove it one last time, I have passed 1,000 pages on Word while writing this story. Another milestone for me as a writer.
> 
> Anyway, feel free to review/favorite/follow/kudos the story. The next chapter…is the final battle against Zero. This is for all the marbles (or strawberry cheesecakes, if you ask Kirby). Look out for it soon. Thanks for reading. Later.


	52. The Fallen Angel of Darkness

**Team #5 – Amitie & Kirby**

“Hey! Rivitie!”

…

“Ugh. This is getting ridiculous.”

“Poyo poyo poyo?”

“Yeah, Kirby. We did look everywhere. The plaza, the beach, the park, the forest. That’s all the stuff I can think of looking. I can’t find this girl anywhere.”

“ _So you looked everywhere, huh? You must be really tired._ ”

**_*sigh*_ ** _Here we go._

“I don’t need your sarcasm, thank you.” I turned to face Dark Meta Knight standing on one of the buildings in the plaza.

“ _Who said it was sarcasm? I was just looking out for you, Amitie._ ”

“Yeah. Sure.” I was not buying it. And he knew it, too. “What are you even doing here? Did the Mirror World get dragged into this as well?”

“ _Yes. But not completely. The only one affected was Radish Ruins. And besides, I only came here to watch._ ”

“Poyo poyo?”

“Yeah, watch what?”

Dark Meta Knight went silent for a second. Facing the giant dark swirling cloud in the sky of both worlds.

“ _Zero. He draws near._ ”

“H-Huh?! Wh-What are you talking about?!” I asked.

“ _Your friends. They have destroyed most of Zero’s minions. And it’s rage is now maxed-out. Now it’s coming for you both. Whether you’re ready or not._ ”

“Poyo…”

“Fiddlesticks. This is not good at all. And we still have no idea where Rivitie ran off to.”

“ _Rivitie?_ ”

“Yeah. Apparently…Dark Red Amitie is my twin sister.”

“ _Really?_ ” Dark Meta Knight went silent again. “ _Now that I think about it, I just saw her recently._ ”

“ **Really?! You did?!** ”

“ **Poyo!** ” Kirby asked where he last saw Rivitie.”

“ _She was sitting on the roof of a nearby building crying her eyes out. I had something else to deal with. So I just left her alone. The building was big and brown. With one of those puyo things on the top of it._ ”

“Wait a second… **That’s the school! We know where she is! Thanks, Dark Meta Knight! This is the most helpful you’ve been this entire time!** ”

“ _Hmph. I’ll take that as a compliment._ ” Dark Meta Knight said before disappearing from in front of us.

“Come on, Kirby! Let’s go to the school before it’s too late!”

“Poyo poyo!” Kirby cheered.

 

We both reached Primp Magic School and saw that it too was fused with parts of Dream Land. But unlike the others, the school was just pouring water from its windows. And when we followed where the water was coming from, it was coming from the sky. And the ground around it…was nothing but water. We were able to stand on it and even see our own reflections.

It was…kinda beautiful, in a way.

“Woah. What happened here?” I asked.

“Poyo…”

“Oh. Amitie, is that you?”

 _Huh? That voice. That sounds like…_ ”

“Ms. Accord!” I cheered as my teacher headed towards us.

“Amitie. This really is a surprise. What with you being gone for so long and all.”

“Y-Yeah. S-Sorry about that. I, uh…kinda went to a different world.”

“Again, meow?” Popoi asked. “This is like your 4th time, meow.”

“Poyo?” Kirby looked at me with a confused look.

“It’s a common thing here. It happens all the time.”

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo…”

“L-Look, it just does, okay? I can’t control it.”

“Poyo…”

“So, Amitie. Who’s your friend?” Ms. Accord asked.

“O-Oh, right. This is Kirby. He’s a star warrior from another world called Dream Land.”

“I see…” Ms. Accord went silent for a bit. “Was he inside your backpack that one day in class?”

“Tch!” I began panicking.

**_*whine*_ ** _How does she always figure it out?!_

“Amitie…”

"O…Okay, fine. He was. B-But what was I supposed to do? It was just me at home with Mom out of town and Kirby had just come to this world during a time that… _I-I wasn’t feeling happy._ ”

“I see…well, all is forgiven. Just let me know if you’re going to bring other-worldly stuff to class.”

“Thanks, Ms. Accord!” As I cheered, I remembered why I came here in the first place. “Uh…h-hey, Ms. Accord. This may sound weird but, I’m actually looking for someone.”

“You’re looking for Rivitie, right?”

“ **H-Huh?! H-How did you?!** ”

“ _Fufufu._ Your mother’s not the only one who made up that legend.”

_Gee whiz. Mom and Ms. Accord sure are mysterious when they’re together._

“S-So do you know where she is?” I asked.

“I just noticed her on the school roof. I was actually on my way to talk to her. But then I saw you stand here.”

“I see. I’m gonna go talk to her. I feel like it has to be me.”

“I understand, Amitie. Just be careful.”

“The school is pouring out water for some unknown reason, meow.” Popoi added.

“Alrighty. Come on, Kirby.”

“Poyo.”

We both headed inside the semi-flooded magic school to reach the roof and finally get my twin sister to like me. After not knowing she hated me for so long.

_And honestly…I don’t blame her._

 

After trekking our way through the school hallway and its waterfalls, we made it to the school's rooftop. Which was also spewing waterfalls and its floor was water that we could stand on. While doing that, however, Kirby kept looking around the place. It looked like he was starting to recognize what place had fused with my school.

And I was right.

“Huh? You’re saying that my school had fused together with a place called…the Fountain of Dreams?”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“A place that supplies good dreams to Popstar’s inhabitants? As well as collects the hopes and dreams of all living things?”

“Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Hmm…now that I think about it, I do remember you guys telling us that before. Our original goal was to stop the puyos from destroying it. But I guess that didn’t last long, did it?”

“Poyo.”

“ _This fountain…_ ”

We both turned our attention to Rivitie, who had started talking all of a sudden. Maybe she knew we were here.

“ _While I was trapped inside that hat of yours, this fountain would always appear in my dreams. I don’t know why, but its beauty was the only thing that kept me sane while in that prison. Seeing over you as you lived your life while I didn’t._

_The Puyo Tournament, warping to Ringo’s world, that Tetra crew and the game called Tetris, helping Ally save her world, and even when you went to that Japan place to find Feli._

_I sat through it all. Holding in the pain I’ve piled up inside for many years._

_This pain, this feeling I’ve held for so long…is known as rejection. In case you couldn’t figure it out._ ”

_Wowie wow wow. I…I had no idea. Mom, why did you do such a thing? Maybe she was evil. But even then, she didn’t deserve that._

“R-Rivitie, I…”

“ _How did you even know I was up here, anyway?_ ” She cut me off.

“I-I’ve had people tell me that they saw you up here.”

“Poyo.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _I guess. Wouldn’t be possible to hide with this place out in the open like this._ ”

“Rivitie…I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I forgot about you. If I would’ve known that I had a twin sister, I would’ve freed you myself.”

“ _You idiot. Don’t feed me stuff I want to hear. It makes you look pathetic._ ”

“But I’m serious! I think what Mom did to you was completely uncalled for. Even though her intentions were in good thoughts, how she made it happen, _although still questionable on how she did it_ , was not right at all. And I totally disagree with her reasoning.”

…

Rivitie didn’t respond. All she did really was look back at us. Then turned away. Still with the mixed look of sadness and anger.

“Poyo.” Kirby said as he walked up to her.

“ _Leave me alone, Kirby. Don’t try to sap me up too._ ”

“Hey, come on. Hear him out.” I said as I walked up to her.

“Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo.”

…

“Huh?” Rivitie looked confused.

_Right. She can’t understand him. I guess what she did in the hat didn’t stay with her._

“He said: “ _You don’t have to feel this way. You’re not inside the hat anymore. In fact, the hat is completely gone. You can live your own life now. Something that you wanted to do since the day you were sealed in there in the first place._

 _Holding in this anger is only going to hurt you even more. So it’s best that you finally let it go, forgive the mistakes your family has made, and finally live the peaceful life you’ve always dreamt of. With people that care about you dearly as well._ ”.”

“ _He said all of that by just saying “poyo”?_ ”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I was shocked too when I started understanding him.” I said.

“Poyo!”

“ _I-I see…_ ” Rivitie then went silent for a good while. “ _W-Well…I guess you two have a point…_ ”

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

***RUMBLE***

“Wh-What the?! Wh-What’s going on with that cloud?!” I asked as we watch the giant swirling dark cloud up in the sky. It was starting to get bigger. And parts of it were showing a dark red color.

Very similar to the color of blood.

“ _It’s here._ ”

Suddenly, Dark Meta Knight had appeared onto the roof with us. And started at the now giant black & red cloud with us.

“A-And by “it”, d-do you mean…”

“ _Zero. It finally reveals itself. It blames the two of you for ruining its plan of revenge. And now it’s coming for you both._ ”

“ ** _*gulp*_** F-Fiddlesticks…”

“ **Amitie!** **Kirby!** ”

We looked from the rooftop to see everyone standing at the entrance. Looking just as panicked as I was.

“ **Guys! Zero’s getting closer! And its rage is full bent!** ” Adeleine yelled.

“ **You guys gotta go and fight it! Both of our worlds are at stake!** ” Raffina yelled.

“ **It’s already taken so many lives! At this rate, it’ll kill us all!** ” Ribbon yelled.

“ **Wait, hold on! What do you mean “so many”?!** ”

“ **There’s no time to explain, Amitie! You and Kirby have to go NOW!** ” Meta Knight shouted.

“B-But…” I went dead silent. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. I thought I was prepared for this, but I have no idea how to fight a fallen angel! What the hell am I supposed to do?! That stupid legend was mostly a lie this entire time! Now what?!

“ _Hey!_ ” Rivitie yelled. “ _Don’t tell me you’re giving up now!_ ”

“What do you mean?! How am I supposed to take on a fallen angel?! I mean, you lost to it, didn’t you?!”

“ _Tch! Y-You didn’t have to remind me!_ ”

“ _Amitie. I may have an idea._ ” Dark Meta Knight said. “ _I was watching one of your friends fighting one of Zero’s minions. And something interested me. Are you aware of this thing call Fever Mode?_ ”

“Fever Mode? Can we really use that against Zero?”

“ _Your friends used it to defeat the minion. So I believe it has a chance._ ”

“Hmm…I guess. I mean, we don’t have much left to go with. You’ll help me won’t you, Kirby?”

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered with a determined look on his face.

“ _H-Hey. Amitie._ ” I looked over at Rivitie. “ _L-Let me help._ ”

“R-Really?! You want to help?!”

“ _W-Well…it is my fault that Zero is trying to destroy both worlds. Ringo was right when she said I doomed you guys from the very start. So to make it up for all that I’ve done, I want to help you guys defeat Zero. Once and for all!_ ”

I can tell that she was serious. Rivitie’s personality had changed a lot since we’ve rescued her from her fight with the fallen angel. She used to be a cold, empty-hearted clone that wanted to kill me.

But now (granted, still a bit grumpy), she’s willing to help me take down a galactic threat. Very different from how we first met.

“Alright! Let the three of us do it together…Sis!”

“ _S-Sis?!_ ”

…

“ _Y-Yeah. S-Sure._ ” Rivitie blushed a little from me calling her that.

  ***BOOM* *CRASH***

“ _You three better go now. You don’t have much time._ ” Dark Meta Knight said.

“Right! Hang on, Kirby!”

“Poyo!” Kirby grabbed hold of me as I magically grew the gray angelic bat-like wings with hexagon-shaped scales from before. While he had turned into that rainbow form of him that I still don’t know much about. But I’m deciding to let it go.

And together with the Legendary Star Warrior and my soul-powered twin sister, we headed towards the black & red swirling cloud. To face off against my toughest enemy yet.

The Fallen Angel of Darkness, Zero.

 

**Swirling Nightmare – Dark Star**

 

The three of us continued to fly through the dark cloud. Which according to Kirby, is called Dark Star. The background was a brooding mix of black & dark red. Ribbons of Dark Matter energy (that’s what Kirby called it) swirled around us. Making it a little hard to see.

“Gee whiz. This place is…super scary-looking. Is this where Zero is, Kirby?”

“Poyo. Poyo poyo poyo.”

“Exactly like last time, huh? Man, you go through some disturbing stuff.”

“Poyo.”

“ _Hey. Something’s up ahead._ ” Rivitie said as she pointed at a really creepy-looking black hole with a few marks of dark red swirling around it.

“Poyo poyo!”

“That’s where it is, huh? So, I’m about to finally face this Zero thing.”

I went dead silent for a second. Thinking to myself of all the things that led up to this very moment.

Kirby falling in my yard.

The others and I going to Dream Land.

The discovery of Dark Red Amitie aka Rivitie.

The creation of Raina, Ridel, Cherri, and Shadow Arle.

And learning about the (now useless) legend.

Those events…and others like it…are what brought me to this point in time. To fight this so-called Fallen Angel of Darkness and stop it from destroying our worlds.

…

_My life sure isn’t normal in the slightest._

“ _Yo. Amitie._ ” Rivitie called out.

“Huh?”

“ _You spaced out. Are your nerves getting the best of you again?_ ”

“What do you mean “ ** _again_** ”? This time, I’m more ready than ever! I’ll take down Zero and save both worlds! Watch me now!”

“Poyo!” Kirby cheered with me.

…

“ ** _*sigh*_** _You’re still cheerful as usual._ ” Rivitie said with a smug look. Her best version of a smile.

We all flew inside the black hole. And now we were in the core of Dark Star. It was a hazy dark red color with a small mix of black in some spots. And there were a bunch of black chains scattered across the area.

“W-Woah. Th-This area is…”

“Poyo!” Kirby pointed up about to show that something was approaching us. It was a slightly flat bulbous white sphere for a body with a point at the bottom. There were two black dots resembling beady eyes above its wide smile. And it had two white & scaly angelic wings and a big gold halo over its head.

“Th…This is…”

As I was trying to finish my sentence, the black dots disappeared and the wide smile opened up. Revealing a giant dark red eye that oozed blood from the eyelid. The angel wings also grew dark red feathers. And were also bleeding from its scaly-ness.

_Thi…This can’t be…_

“ _That’s it. That’s Zero._ ” Rivitie said.

“ _Holy crap…_ ” I said. Amazed and highly terrified by what I was looking at. But all that fear went away once I remembered what was at stake here. And grew a serious look on my face.

“ **Zero!** ” I shouted. “ **You’ve caused too much trouble for me and my friends! And now…my Dark Soul twin, the Legendary Star Warrior, and myself, the Light Soul of a legend that made no sense to begin with…will end your murderous reign of destruction! You horrible excuse of an existing being!** ”

I couldn’t really tell at first, but Zero did get angry at either what I said, or just the sight of us in general. Its eye opened more as a bunch more blood started dripping from it.

“You guys ready?” I asked.

“ _I’ve been ready for this!_ ”

“Poyo!”

“Alrighty! Then let’s do it!”

“ **LET’S BEGIN OUR FINAL PUYO MATCH!!!** ”

“ ** _LET’S BEGIN OUR FINAL PUYO MATCH!!!_** ”

“ **POYO POYO!!!** ”

This was truly it. My final Puyo Puyo battle…as the Light Soul.

_And I was going to make it a big one!_

 

**FINAL BOSS: Vs. Zero**

 

It wasn't even 10 seconds after we challenged it before Zero started attacking us. Shooting these blue star-like projectiles that exploded whether they hit us or not. Making it hard for us to even start to attack ourselves.

“Gah! It’s already not letting up!” I yelled.

As Zero kept firing at us, I lost my hold on Kirby. Making him float through all this madness.

“Kirby!”

Although…it didn’t seem to bother him. What I mean is…he started glowing. And soon after, a bunch of puyos appeared. Most of them flew over and attacked Zero in its bloody eye.

While a few, and only a few, popped on their own. And both Rivitie and I felt the power surging through our bodies. And intense power that I’ve never felt before.

Well…I say that. but for some reason, it felt all too familiar.

“Woah…this power… **I FEEL GREAT!** ”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _I know, right? I feel stronger than ever!_ ” Rivitie yelled.

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo!”

“All thanks to the Soul Ability? **Wait, what’s the Soul Ability?!** ”

“ _Now’s not a good time to ask, Amitie!_ ”

“R-Right. Then let’s just keep on going!”

“ **Cosmic Flame!** ”

“ ** _Cosmic Flame!_** ”

“ **Puyo Inferno!** ”

The three of us finally did an attack of our own. Firing each one at Zero’s bloody eye and blocking the projectiles coming from it. blood started pouring from its eyes as it tipped forward. Making the halo vulnerable for attacking.

“Poyo! Poyo poyo poyo!” Kirby yelled.

“Huh? Aim for the halo? What’s that gonna do?” I asked.

“ _Why are you questioning it? He’s obviously fought it before. Just do it!”_ Rivitie yelled.

“Alright, alright!”

We all moved closer to Zero’s halo (mainly above it). And after Kirby had spawned more puyos with his Soul Ability, Rivitie and I felt the intense power once again.

“ **Exo-Flare!** ”

“ ** _Exo-Flare!_** ”

“ **Puyo Blizzard!** ”

With the extra puyos shot off as a bonus, we each attacked with our spells. Shattering the halo into pieces and making Zero flip over completely. Flailing its bloody angel wings around as it sat here defenseless.

And at the bottom of its body was a green cactus-like plant that had a green aura to it. And it kinda smelled bad.

But one thing came to mind when I saw it.

_Is that…its weak spot?_

“Rivitie!”

“ _I know! Let’s finish it off!_ ”

The two of us flew to where we had a good view of the cactus spot. And with even more power giving to us by Kirby, we prepared for our final attack.

“Ready? And…”

“ **Bayo-Nova!** ”

“ ** _Bayo-Nova!_** ”

We each unleashed five red shadow orbs at the plant. The smell coming from it was unbearable, but it would soon be worth it. As the cactus was destroyed. And Zero began glowing a white light as it was about to explode.

“ **Yes! We defeat Zero!** ” I cheered.

“ _Hmph. That was easy._ ” Rivitie said with a smug.

“Poyo…poyo poyo.”

“Huh? What do you mean it was too easy?” I asked Kirby.

It seemed my question was answered without any words being said. Because right at that moment, Zero had stopped glowing. And instead of exploding, its bloody eye began pulsing back and forth. Like it had a mind of its own.

_Wh-What the…_

Then…the most disgusting, disturbing, and all around unexplainable thing happened in front of our eyes. Zero's bloody eye had popped out of its body. With blood pouring everywhere as it fell to the oblivion below us.

And to make matters worse, four red eyes that looked similar to that Kracko guy appeared out of nowhere. Circling around the bloody eye like it was protecting it to some extent.

“ ** _What…What the hell?!_** ” Rivitie shouted out of disgust. With a face of “I’m about to puke!”.

“Poyo poyo…poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo.”

“N-No way…”

“ _What did he say?_ ”

“H-He said: “ _This has to be Zero's final form. A form no one has ever seen before...but knew of its existence. Zero-Three. The form of a soul._ ”.”

“ _Z-Zero-Three? Th-The form of a soul? **HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BEAT THIS THING?!**_ ”

“I-I…I-I…”

As I tried to think of an answer, the newly freshen eyes started attacking. Targeting all of us before firing a stream of blood from all four eyes.

“ **Gah!** ” I screamed as we moved out from its paths. But the eyes were so fast. They shifted to other spots and fired again. And again. And again. And again. And again. It was starting to become unavoidable. And we got hit a couple times.

We were all floating face-to-face with the newly created Zero-Three. Completely soaked with its blood and slowly getting weak.

“ ** _*pant* *pant*_** _Th-This thing…it’s ridiculously strong._ ” Rivitie said.

“ ** _*pant*_** _G-Geez. H-How are we supposed to beat it? we can’t even get close to it._ ” I said.

“ _P-Poyo…_ ”

And as things couldn't get any worse, Zero was preparing to unleash its most powerful attack yet. All of the red eyes were attaching themselves to the bloody eye center. And all five of them were glowing a dark red aura mixed with blood.

We were tired. Exhausted, even. We wouldn’t be able to move in time even if we could.

We were doomed. Finished. Done for. There was no way we would survive this. And all we could do was sit there and take it as much as we can.

_F-Fiddlesticks. I-It’s all over. Wh-Why did I have to fail at this precise moment? This can’t be happening._

_…_

_It…It just can’t._

Once I finished having that final thought, I heard the eyes fire at us. And expected to die right then and there.

With my best buddy and my twin sister at my side.

***BOOM***

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

“ _H-Huh? I-I…I’m still…a-alive?_ ” I asked as I looked around. Kirby and Rivitie were confused as well. Questioning why they were still alive as well.

“ **Poyo! Poyo!** ” That’s when Kirby saw it. The cause of our lives being saved. It was four more eyes. Blocking the eyes Zero had. Only instead of a red color, they were blue. And in the center, was a blue blobby thing.

_Wait, I've seen that blobby thing before! It looks all too familiar! No way! Th-That's…_

“ ** _G-Gooey?!_** ”

My eyes weren’t lying to me. It really was Gooey! He looked almost identical to Zero’s final form. The only difference being that he was the center instead of a bloody eye of sorts.

“ _Wh-What’s that blob thing doing?!_ ” Rivitie asked.

“I-I think…he’s fending it off.” I said. Just as stunned. As I was trying to comprehend what was happening, a memory from a long while ago came back to my mind. A very important one, too.

“ _It’s also believed that he’s a failed clone of an evil entity called Dark Matter, who tried to take over the entire planet a couple times._ ”

 _Oh, yeah. Bandanna-Dee did say that, didn't he? And I remember Gooey using said powers during that fight with Whispy Woods._ _But I didn’t think he was **THIS** powerful! This could help us greatly!_

We watched as Gooey continued to fight off Zero. Both were equally matched at this point. It was hard to tell who was winning.

Until we saw one of Zero’s eyes fly off in the air. And heading towards us. Gooey turned to us and winked a bit. Giving us some kind of signal that we seemed to understand.

“ **I got you, Gooey!** ” I cheered. I then rushed over to the eye and prepared to strike.

“ **Bayo-Nova!** ”

I fired an attack to the eye. Slicing it in half and soon exploding in a bloodbath of a mess.

“ _W-Woah._ ” Rivitie said while watching the whole thing unfold.

Gooey then sent another eye our way. And then another. And then the final one. They were coming fast, but we knew what to do.

“ **Bayo-Nova!** ”

“ ** _Bayo-Nova!_** ”

“ **Puyo Blizzard!** ”

Each of us destroyed the eyes. Making them face the same outcome as the first one. Once that was done, Gooey had used his own eyes to paralyzed Zero’s last bloody eye. Giving us full access to finish it off once and for all.

“ **Now’s our chance!** ” I cheered.

“ **Poyo!** ”

Kirby rushed over to the frozen in place eyeball while spawning a rainbow blob-like sword with a flame of the same color. Like his whole body, it reminded me of a puyo.

_Just how powerful is this Soul Ability?_

He then stood in front of it and began slicing the bloody eyes with the puyo sword. He sliced it multiple times. Too many time to count, really. But it was so cool to look at.

Then Kirby had stopped right in front of it. Letting the sword get bigger in size and the flame getting hotter.

“ _Holy crap._ ” Both Rivitie and I said in amazement.

Then we watched Kirby the final slice with his Puyo Soul Ability Sword.

“ **Rainbow Puyo Slash!** ”

***DEEP SLICE SOUND X3 (for special effect)***

After **_that_** final blow, Zero had once again begun to glow a white light as it was about to explode.

For real this time.

…

And it looked like to be a big one.

“ **Guys! I think we should get out of…** ”

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

_T…Too late._

 

( _Quick Note: This is a third-person POV_ )

“Do you see them, Ribbon?” Adeleine asked.

“No. not at all.”

“Geez. They’ve been in there for a while. I hope they’re alright.” Lidelle said.

“Still, though. Does anyone find it weird that Amitwo went with them?” Ringo asked.

“And not only that, Gooey even went after them not too long ago. I’m still shocked that he can fly.” Arle added.

“Hey, Marx. How does it feel to be less useful than Gooey, huh?” Raffina asked him.

“Wh-What?! H-How am I less useful than Gooey?!”

“Well, he is a failed clone of Dark Matter.” Meta Knight said.

“ _And his tongue of all things is super strong._ ” Bandanna-Dee wrote on his board.

“And he’s squishy.” Susie said.

“Yes, very squishy.” Francisca added.

“What does that last one have to do with me?” Marx asked. Questioning the two women’s reasonings on power.

“ **Guys! Look!** " Ribbon yelled as she pointed up to the sky.

The group of friends watched as they saw the swirly black & red cloud rapidly getting smaller. Revealing the clear blue sky Primp is usually known for.

“ **Th-The sky!** ”

“ **It’s back to normal!** ” Lidelle and Arle cheered.

“But…where are they?” Adeleine asked.

“Uh… **H-Hey! I see them!** ”

As the dark cloud began to explode, a little yellow dot was seen flying in the sky. As it turns out, that dot was the Warpstar. And on it was Kirby, Gooey, Rivitie, and a passed out Amitie being carried by them all.

“ **They did it! They defeated Zero!** ” Ribbon cheered.

Cheers went around as citizens of both worlds came to realize that the threat of Zero was finally gone for good. And that the heroes had made it out alive.

Kirby had landed his Warpstar in front of the group. Where he and the other two had gotten off. And the Dark Soul was holding the original on her back. Struggling to keep her up.

“ **You did it, guys! You saved both Dream Land and Primp Town!** ” Adeleine cheered.

“Poyo!”

Gooey formed his tongue into a thumbs up as a response.

“ _Y-Yeah, that’s great. Now can we get this girl checked out or something? Sh-She’s really heavy._ ” Rivitie asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I got her.” Raffina said as she took Amitie from her “previously known as a clone” twin sister. “We can take into the school until she wakes up.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** _Fine, whatever._ ”

“And I supposed you want to go too huh, Kirby?” Adeleine asked him.

“Poyo poyo!”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Just as I thought.” She then said with a sad tone.

“Cheer up, girl. It’ll be fine in the end.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Poyo?”

“Yeah, what are you two talking about?” Ribbon asked.

Both girls went silent for a short bit.

“Well, if you **_really_** want to know…”

“ **R-Raffina!** ” Adeleine yelled with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Alright, fine.”

Kirby and Ribbon were left confused as a small part of the group went inside Primp Magic School to look after Amitie until she woke up.

Hopefully…it will be soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zero, the Fallen Angel of Darkness, has finally been defeated. And both worlds are safe once more. Now the only thing to do now is to wait for Amitie to wake up from it all. 
> 
> But then…what next?
> 
> The next chapter is the final chapter of the story. And it should be up by tomorrow. This massive story will finally have its conclusion. Thanks for reading. See you in the final chapter.


	53. Resurrections & The Final Goodbye

***BACK TO NORMAL POV***

“ ** _*moan*_** _What…What happened?_ ”

“Hey, everyone! She’s waking up!” I heard a voice near me.

“ _A-Arle?_ ”

“Yep. And Carby, too.”

“Gu gu gu!”

“Thank goodness you’re okay, Am. You had us worried for a second.”

“ _R-Ringo?_ ”

“Of course, she pulled through. All she did was pass out. Nothing compared to what she went through before.”

“ _R-Raffina?_ ”

I sat up from the bed I was laying on and saw the three girls I mentioned plus a few others. All pretty relieved that I had woken up.

“I-It this…”

“You’re in Primp Magic School, Amitie.” Ms. Accord said.

"Specifically, the nurse's office, meow." Popoi added.

“Woah. The school…i-it’s not pouring water anymore.”

“That’s because it has reverted back to its original state. Along with most of Primp Town at this point.” Adeleine said.

“And the sky’s back to its normal blue color as well.” Lidelle added.

“Wait, it did?! S-So that means…”

“Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo!”

“Get really real… **WE DEFEATED ZERO! AWESOME!** ” I cheered as I stood off from the bed. The injuries I had gotten from past fights seemed to be gone as well.

“ **WE DID IT, KIRBY! THE FOUR OF US ACTUALLY DID IT! YOU, ME GOOEY, AND RI…** ”

That’s when I stopped cheering and looked around the room. and noticed the Rivitie was nowhere to be found.

“H-Hey…where did Ri…Amitwo go?”

“She left, Ammy.” Mom said to me.

“Wh-What?! Mom, what did you say to her now?!”

“N-Nothing ill-tempered!” Mom then looked away from me while folding her arms. “I-I actually…apologized to her.”

“Y-You did?”

“Yes. It was pretty heart-warming. A first in my eyes.” Ms. Accord said.

“And it was also fun to see Melody-senpai stutter her words for once in my friendship with her.” Lily added.

“Oh, yes. That was pretty funny.” Yumi said.

"I nearly laughed a couple times. Don't know how I managed to hold it for that long." Rulue said.

“ **Tch! Y-You four are NOT helping!** ” Mom yelled with a faint blush on her face.

“Wait, how do you guys know Amitwo?” Raffina asked.

Ms. Accord, Lily, Yumi, and Rulue turned to face Mom. Who looked away from them all in hopes of not telling them what she’s kept from me for so long.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Fine, Mom. I’ll tell them.” I said. Completely annoyed.

“Tell us what?”

I took a deep breath before revealing…pretty much the biggest secret I’ve ever heard in my life. Which is really fitting, when you think about it.

“Well, you see…Dark Red Amitie, given the nickname Amitwo…her real name is actually Rivitie Rose. My twin sister.”

…

…

…

“ **WHAT?! Y-YOUR TWIN SISTER?!** ” Nearly everyone shouted.

“ _Surprise…_ ” Mom said sarcastically.

“ **Woah! So this whole time, we were dealing with your twin sister?!** ” Misuki asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. Mom kept it a secret from me for all these years. And in addition to some other things she did, it made Rivitie fuel up with rage. Enough to…basically cause all this in the first place.”

“ _Woah…_ ” Ringo said in amazement.

“ **Damnit, Melody! This was all your fault!** ” Raffina yelled.

“I said I was sorry, okay?! I had my reasons for sealing Rivitie inside Ammy’s hat!”

Mom then went silent for a bit.

“Reasons you wouldn’t understand.”

And very few people understood what she meant by that. So I suggested that we let it go for now.

“So where is everyone else?” I asked.

“Everyone’s doing their best to fix the damage the attack did to Primp.” Raffina said. Then went to dead silence. “Well…almost everyone.”

“Oh, yeah. How’s Sig pulling through?” Arle asked.

“Not good. He’s still really depressed.”

“Poor Sig. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now.” Lidelle said.

“Wait, what? Sig…depressed? Wh-What happened?” I asked.

…

…

“W-Well…” Raffina continued. “Y-You know how we said that Zero has taken so many lives?”

“Yeah. Now that I think about it…it was some of Ribbon’s friends and her queen, right?”

“ _Yes._ ” Ribbon said with a sad look.”

“S-Sorry, Ribbon.” I said with a little guilt.

“W-Well now…Ch-Chu’s one of those people.”

It took me a moment to realized what Raffina had just told me. But once I did…

“ **Wh-What?! Ch-Chu’s dead?!** ”

“From what he told us, she was killed while trying to save his life. And now he hates himself for it. Badly.”

"Oh my God! Poor Sig! If only there was some way to bring Chu back! She didn't deserve the fate she got!"

“There just happens to be one…”

“Huh?!”

We all looked at the entrance to the nurse’s office to see…someone we didn’t really expect.

“S-Satan?!” Arle yelled in shock.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, it is I! The strong, strapping, madcapping monarch of darkness! The gorgeous and sexy! Popular with ladies worldwide with my elegant charm! The ruler of Puyo Hell and the Advent Primp himself! Satan-sama! **AT…YOUR…SERVICE!** ”

“Oh, God. Again?! We don’t care!”

“Gu gu. Gu!”

“H-Hey! I wasn’t done!”

“ **YES…YOU…WERE!** ”

“Does he do this a lot at your house?” Raffina asked Lidelle.

“Yeah, he does. Pretty much every time he comes over to visit.”

“Most of them are lies, too. Especially the “gorgeous & sexy” and “popular with all the ladies” parts.” Yumi added.

“M-Mother!” Satan yelled.

“Don’t listen to them, Darling Satan!” Rulue yelled. “Your gorgeous queen Rulue believes all of those things are true!”

“H-Hello? Rulue-senpai? Please come back to Earth with us.”

I honestly don’t understand how Yumi is completely okay with the fact that her best friend from high school is madly in love with her son. Doesn’t she see the factors on how that’s wrong?

…

…

U-Unless…Yumi’s older than we think she is. And if that’s the case…

…

I-I rather not think about it right now.

“What you even doing here, Satan?” Arle asked.

“Well, like I said. I’m here to offer my services to my precious little Arly and sweet Carbunny. And by that, I mean there is a way to bring Chu back.”

“ **TH-THERE IS?!** ” We shouted.

“We just need to use this Fountain of Dreams place that came from this other world. And with a few modifications, we can bring all of the dead back to life. Plain and simple.”

“ **ALL** of the dead?!”

“Well…at least that’s what that Meta Knight guy told me.”

“So we can bring Chu back?!” I asked.

“Indeed.”

“And the people of my home planet?!” Ribbon asked.

“Indeed as well.”

“Wow! Thanks a bunch, Satan!” Arle cheered. “This is probably the only thing you’ve ever done in your life that isn’t annoying and stupid!”

“Gu gu gugu!”

“ _Again! Hey!_ ” Lidelle grew offended.

“Great!” I cheered. “I’ll go grab Sig and meet you guys there! Let’s go, Kirby!”

“Poyo!”

 

I thought finding Sig would be an easy task. But it proved to be difficult this time around. He wasn’t at his usual spot, being near Nahe Forest looking for bugs to catch. So Kirby and I kept looking and looking.

Until we finally found him on the outskirts of town. Crying to himself in a lonely field. Peruvis was with him too. Trying to comfort him as much as she could.

“Sig, come on. It’s not your fault.”

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Yes, it is! I was supposed to protect her! And I couldn’t do that! and now she’s gone! I’m a terrible big brother! And a horrible demon boy!_ ”

And from the looks of it, she wasn’t having much luck.

_Aw, geez. Poor Sig. He’s really taking it hard._

“Sig.” I called out. Gaining the duo’s attention.

“Amitie. You’re awake.” Peruvis said.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Oh. Hey, Ammy. Hey, pink friend of Ammy._ ”

“His name’s Kirby, Sig.” I said.

“ _Oh._ ” His classic response to everything was less nonchalant and more depressed. Making it even more obvious that he was feeling down.

“Sig, I know how much you miss Chu. We all do. But we know a way to bring her back!”

“What?”

“Geez. That’s so cruel of you, Amitie. Making up such a lie like that just to make him happy.” Phoenix said as he came out of Peruvis’ back.

“It’s not a lie! Satan actually told us how to do it! we just need to go to this place called the Fountain of Dreams and go from there!”

“The Fountain of Dreams?” All three asked.

“It’s a place from Kirby’s world. It fused with the school and is still above it.”

“Huh.”

“So come on, Sig. Please? Trust us. We know what to do.”

Sig took a moment to think this over. I know that it may sound unbelievable to him. But I know in my heart that his love & care for his little sister would erase that thought from his head.

“Okay, Ammy. I’ll go.”

“ **Yay!** ” I cheered as I high-fived Kirby.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Aw, what the hell. I’ll go, too.” Peruvis said. “I’m curious to see this “Dream Fountain” you’re talking about.

“It’s _The Fountain of Dreams_ , you idiot.” Phoenix said.

“How am I an idiot?! You’ve never heard of it either!”

“Yeah, but at least I was paying attention. I bet you were thinking of what dirty novel to read tonight, huh?”

“­N-No! A-And what do you know?!”

“I know that I’m not a pervert.”

“ **Tch!** _Why you damn little wisp…_ ”

“Poyo poyo poyo?” Kirby asked me as we watched the two bicker at each other.

“Yeah, it’s normal. They do this all the time, despite being friends.”

“Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo?”

“No one really knows, little buddy.” I replied with an exasperated look.

 

**Dreamy Water Reservoir – Fountain of Dreams**

 

We brought Sig and Peruvis over to the Fountain of Dreams where everyone was waiting. They couldn’t really believe what they were seeing. And like them, I couldn’t either.

“Damn, this place is beautiful!” Peruvis yelled.

“It really is.” Sig said. “Is this really from that other world you went to, Ammy?”

“Yep! Sure is! I wish you guys were there with us. The entire place was beautiful.”

“ _Whoa…_ ” The two friends said.

“Hey, guys. You’re back.” Ringo said.

“We’re just about to start.” Adeleine added.

“Great! Just in time, too!” I cheered.

“Poyo!”

“W-Will this…really bring Chu back?” Sig asked. Looking a bit uneasy about this process.

“Don’t worry, Sig.” Lidelle said. “Satan has this all figured out.”

“Indeed, I have.” Satan said. “The process is very simple and safe to do. But we do need one last thing, though. The essence of an Eternal Soul.”

“Th-The essence of an Eternal Soul?” I asked. “B-But the only one we have is…”

“Guys…it’s okay.”

We turned behind us to see Yu, Rei, Jarne, and Chilly walking up to us. With Yu having a sad look on her face while Rei…well…it's Rei. You don't expect much emotion out of him.

“Yu? Wh-What are you…”

“I mean it’s okay. You can use my Eternal Soul.”

“ **HUH?!** ”

“ **W-Wait a second, Yu! Th-That means you’ll be a human forever!** ” Arle yelled.

“ **You’re seriously okay with that?!** ” Raffina asked.

“Well…to be honest…no. There were some horrible things that happened to me when I was alive and being human again makes me remember them all. Which is why I desperately wanted to become a ghost again. But after hearing about what happened to Chu, and how Sig is miserable without her, I-I did some thinking…

…

…A-And decided to give it up. Chu deserves to be alive way more than I deserve to be dead. Especially after what she went through.”

“W-Wow. Yu…” I said.

“I can’t even imagine how difficult of a decision that must’ve been.” Adeleine said.

“You have no idea.”

“It’s okay, Yu.” Jarne said. “Just like all those years ago, I’ll be right at your side through it all. Me and Rei both. Right, Rei?”

“Yeah.” Rei said.

“ ** _*sigh*_** Thanks, you two.”

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Yu. Th-Thank you so much!_ ” Sig started crying as he hugged Yu out of gratefulness.

“ **H-Hey, wait a sec! D-Don’t just hug me out of nowhere! I-I’m starting to feel weird inside!** ” Yu started to blush.

“That’s an emotion, Yu. You’re embarrassed right now.” Jarne said to her.

“ **E-Embarrassed?! Th-This is what humans feel?! _*whine* This is going to be hard to get used to!_** ”

“You know you look really cute when you blush like that.” Rei said.

“ **Rei! You’re not helping!** ”

“Well, then.” Satan said. “With that out of the way… **TIME FOR THE DASHING DARK PRINCE TO WORK HIS MAGIC!** **HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** ”

“Don’t make this all about you.” Lidelle said. But was completely ignored.

With all four parts of Yu’s Eternal Soul given to him, Satan threw them inside the fountain. The water then began to glow a white light as bubbles started to form.

Then in an instant, multiple balls of water started shooting out of the fountain and into the sky. Disappearing once they got high enough. We didn’t know what had happened. Until one of the water balls came back down and landed in front of us. Revealing a person we haven’t seen in a short while.

And an important friend of Ribbon.

“ ** _*moan*_** _Wh-What? A-Am I…alive?_ ”

“ **Celeste!** ”

“ **R-Ribbon?! I-Is that really you?! A-Am I really alive?!** ”

“ **Yes! We used the Fountain of Dreams to bring you back from the dead!** ”

“And from the looks of it, the entire population of Ripple Star as well.” Adeleine added.

“Woah…wait, so does that mean…”

“Yes, Celeste. We defeated Zero. It’s gone for good and won’t threaten us ever again.”

"Oh, my…we're free. We're finally free! No more having to worry about being consumed into darkness ever again! Thank you, everyone! You truly are heroes!"

“ ** _*giggle*_** Don’t mention it.” I said while (figuratively) patting myself on the back.

“Uh, guys. The water’s still bubbling.” Ringo said.

Soon after, another water ball shot out of the fountain and landed in front of us. This time, revealing someone that was our main reason for doing this.

And it couldn’t have made Sig any happier.

“ ** _*cough* *cough* *cough*_** _Ouchie. Wh-What happened?_ ”

“N-No way…” Phoenix said.

“I-It actually worked.” Peruvis said. “I-It really is her.”

“ **CHU!** ”

“ **SHIGU!** ”

The two siblings rushed over and hugged each other as tight as they can possibly could. And cried extremely heavy tears as they were finally reunited.

“ **Chu! I’m sorry for letting you die! I should’ve done better to protect you! You don’t know how much you mean to me! I love you, Chu!** ”

“ **I love you too, Shigu! Thank you for bringing me back!** ”

Everyone else watched as they tried not to shed a tear at this wonderful reunion.

_It’s good to see Sig happy again. Hopefully, I can be happy with him too someday._

_…_

_If I…ever get the courage to._

 

A few hours had passed by and it was now nighttime. Dream Land and Primp Town were finally 100% separated. And now came the hardest thing we always had to do when stuff like this happens.

Saying goodbye.

“Alright. Everything’s all set up and ready. We just have enough time to say our final goodbyes.” Magolor said as he came out of the Lor Starcutter after pinpointing a way back to Dream Land.

“ ** _*sigh*_** So this is it, huh?” I asked.

“We’re actually going our separate ways.” Arle said.

"Despite all the illogical things we've witnessed throughout our time there, I really had fun." Ringo said.

“Me too.” Maguro said. “I’m especially going to miss that resort place. The games there were so fun that I managed to beat all of the high scores.”

“ ** _*surprised grunt*_** Dedede was shocked to learn the identity of the person that had beaten all of his high scores at his resort.

“Oh, right. Sorry about that, your majesty.”

“I still think you cheated.”

“Will you just let it go already?” I said to Marx.

“My time in Dream Land was pretty fun, as well. A-Aside from being stuck on that lava planet.” Lidelle said.

“It was nice to be around you, Lidelle. Having someone who shares my interest was really fun.” Ribbon said.

“Oh yes, Ribbon. It truly was fun. **_*giggle*_** ”

“Aw, man. It sucks that you have to go, Chilly.” Yu said.

“It was fun.” Rei added.

“Chilly Chilly.”

“Seeing you go is going to be really hard. So much, that I’m actually having water form in my eyes. Why is that?”

“Those are tears of sadness, Yu. It means you’re sad that Chilly is leaving.” Arle explained.

“Humans cry when they’re sad?! _Ugh!_ This is really going to be difficult to go through. How do you people live through this?”

“Why do I get the feeling that I should be offended by that?” Adeleine asked.

“You’re not alone, Adeleine.” The rest of us humans replied.

“And so, a great ally is leaving my side. It was a fateful meeting was it not, Meta Knight?” Schezo asked.

“Indeed it was, Schezo. A skilled swordsman who can match my own power. If only we had time to put them both to the test.”

“Agreed. Though, my dark magic would’ve _rubbed you down_ of all you had and _made you relax in defeat_.”

“ **WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAT?!** ” Those of us who understood it (which wasn’t much) shouted with blushed cheeks of embarrassment.

***BONK***

“Ow!”

“ **Seriously! What is wrong with you, pervert?!** ” Misuki yelled after hitting Schezo in the head with her broom.

“ **DO. NOT. CALL. ME. A. PERVERT!** ”

“I still do not understand was the fuss is about.” Meta Knight said.

“I-It’s best that you didn’t.” Adeleine said with a sweatdrop.

“Last call, everyone.” Magolor said.

“Oh, right. ***clears throat*** It was nice to meet all of you. We’ll really miss you guys.”

“ ** _*whine*_** _It’s going to feel so different without you guys there!_ ” Ribbon began to cry.

“ _Thank you again for returning Kirby to our world. I feel like none of this would've happened if he was stuck here forever._ ” Bandana-Dee wrote on his board one last time.

“Yeah, it was a blast.” Raffina said.

“I can probably write this as my summer break essay. I’ll get an A for sure.” Ringo said.

“I really had fun. I just wish you were there with me, Carby.” Arle said.

“Gu gu gu gu.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Alright. Next time we go to a different world, I’ll bring you along. That a deal?”

“Gu!”

While everyone said their final goodbyes, I stayed silent. I was trying to make myself feel better on saying goodbye to Kirby. But the fact that I’ll never see him again is really making it difficult.

_Why does it have to be this way?_

“Ammy?”

“ ** _*sniff*_** _I-I’m okay, Misuki. I-It’s just…w-well…_ ”

“Yeah. I know.”

“It’s hard for us, too.” Arle added.

I then looked over to Kirby, who had the same sad look as I did. It must be hard for him as well. Poor guy.

“ ** _*sigh*_** _I-I…I guess this is it, little buddy. From this point onward, we’ll be in two different worlds._ ”

“ _Poyo…_ ”

“But…But I won’t be sad forever. I know that if I have you deep in my mind, the memories of our time together will never go away. And I’m sure that you feel the same way, right?”

“Poyo! Poyo poyo!”

I wiped my tears away from my eyes as I prepared to say my final goodbye to my best friend.

“G…Goodbye, Kirby. I’ll miss you.”

“Poyo poyo…Amitie.”

That’s when everyone around the area grew shocked as to what we just heard.

“N-No way!” Adeleine yelled.

“D-Did he just…” Ringo said.

“ **He said my name!** ” I cheered with glee.

“Amitie.” And then he said it again. Which really made me happy.

“You were working on that for a while, weren’t you?” Magolor asked him.

“Poyo!”

I nearly cried full tears once I heard that. To think that Kirby practiced saying my name, let alone any kind of word that wasn’t “poyo”, was the most touching thing anyone has ever done for me. I’ve never felt so happy in my life.

“ ** _*sniff*_** _Thank you. Kirby._ ” Was all I said.

“Alright. Time to go.” Magolor said before went inside the ship. Soon the other followed him inside. And the Lor Starcutter rose up from the ground prepared to blast off.

But not before one last thing was said. And from both sides, too.

“ **Bye, everyone! We’ll never forget you!** ” Adeleine and Ribbon shouted.

“ **Poyo!** ”

Bandana-Dee waved greatly as his way of saying goodbye.

“ **We’ll always remember you, too! Goodbye, everyone!** ” Arle, Ringo, Raffina, and I shouted back.

That was when a star-shaped portal had appeared in the starry-night sky. And the Lor Starcutter flew straight inside at lightning speed. Permanently separating the two worlds forever.

It was hard to watch, yes. But like I said before…as long as I have the memories in my mind, it’ll feel like he’s right here with me.

_Goodbye, Kirby. Legendary Star Warrior._

_And my best buddy, too._

 

**Epilogue**

 

“Mom! I’m back!”

“ _H-Huh? Oh. Hey, ***yawn*** Ammy._ ”

“Were you sleeping this whole time? I thought you were helping clean up town.”

“I was. But then I came here to grab something. And ended up fallen asleep on the couch.”

“What were you looking for?”

…

…

“You know…I actually forgot.”

“ ** _*sigh*_** Of course, you did.” I said with a facepalm. “Well, whatever. I’m going to go take a bath. I could sure use one after all I did.”

_Plus I need to get this blood out of my hair._

“Oh, Ammy. Hold on. You got a letter.”

“Huh? From who? I don’t get any mail.”

“It’s from Rivitie.”

“R-Really?! Gimme!” I yelled as I took the letter from Mom’s hands.

“ _Sheesh._ You don’t have to be so demanding. What does it say, anyway?”

“Hold on. I’m reading it.”

The letter said:

_Hey, you two._

_You’re probably wondering why I left shortly after the battle with Zero, huh? Well…I had some things to take care of._

_And by “some”, I mean only one thing. Destroy the Legend of the Red Puyo Hat. I wiped it out of existence and thus out of people’s minds._

_Well…most of them. Only you two and myself still remember it. Although, your friends still remember that they were cloned. How can they not?_

_This also means that you are no longer the Light Soul. And that the Copy Abilities you gained are all gone. And replaced with your old spells._

_I did this so that no one else would have to deal with this so-called legend. It did nothing but caused pain inside me. And eventually into you._

_And with that, helping you beat Zero, and the multiple apologizes I've given, you better be grateful for what I did._

_As to why I haven’t returned yet…_

_…_

_That’s something I cannot say right now._

_But I’ll be back. Whenever I feel like it. So don’t you dare forget about me again. I’ll never forgive you if you do._

_From,_

_Rivitie “Amitwo” Rose_

_P.S. Thanks for being there for me. I appreciate it…Sis._

“Woah…” I said.

“It’s like she put her heart into it. Despite it being filled with hate for so long.” Mom said.

“Yeah…” I looked over the letter again to see if I missed anything. Once that was cleared, I folded the paper and placed it in my pocket. Satisfied with what I read.

“Do you really think Rivitie will come back, Mom?” I asked.

“Well…knowing that girl’s way of thinking, it’ll probably be a long time before we do. But I’m sure we will. Let’s just give her the space for a while.”

“ _Ooh!_ Christmas is next month! Maybe she’ll come then!”

“You’re not getting the point.” Mom said with a sweatdrop.

“Aw, whatever. I’m going to take my bath now. Ms. Accord said that school starts back up again tomorrow. So I’ll need to look and smell good.”

“Geez. Going back already? Harmony sure doesn’t play around when it comes to education.”

"Makes me wonder how she managed to get you to do it."

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mom sounded insulted.

“ ** _*giggle*_** Nothing, Mom.” I said as I headed to my room to get my pj’s for my bath.

Once there, I took Rivitie’s note from my pocket and placed it on my desk. Planning to frame it at a later date.

But that’s when I noticed something shiny on my bed. And when I went to grab it, I was shocked to see what it was.

“This…This is a Crystal Shard! H-How did it…”

“ ** _RAAAWWWGGGHH!!!_** ”

I then heard a noise outside. And looked out my window to see a white ball of light flying across the night sky before disappearing. The only white thing that sounded familiar to me that made that sound was…

…

I was then able to put two and two together. And smiled as I held the shard tightly in my hand.

“ _I’ll treasure this thing forever._ ” I whispered to myself before closing my window. And went back to preparing for my bath tonight, school tomorrow…

…And whatever wicked stuff life decides to throw at me. And I’ll be ready for it all!

Watch me now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s done. It’s finally done! Puyo Puyo: Dream Land Invasion is finally completed! And after just a little over 11 months, too!
> 
> This was really fun for me to write. As I really want a Puyo Puyo X Kirby game. (Although, I want a Puyo Puyo X Sonic game even more and let's be honest, that seems more likely.) But I'm really surprised that so many people liked the idea. Even people who've played Kirby and don't know a thing about Puyo Puyo.
> 
> I’d like to thank all of you for reading along and enjoying the story. And a special thanks to kirbymanx-huskynator. As this story originally started off as an alternate route to his story “Amitie’s Journey From off Top of her Head” (A story I highly recommend reading, by the way.) and it just went from there.
> 
> So will I write another crossover like this? Eh. Maybe. But not for a while. This story did take a long time to finish and I got other “just Puyo” fics in mind. Look out for them, if you’re interested.
> 
> And so, for the last time in this story, thank you for reading. I hoped you enjoyed the journey of the Magical Girl and the Legendary Star Warrior. Later.


End file.
